Maybe it's Destiny
by Beth818
Summary: Bella meets mysterious, sexy, and wounded Edward Cullen in a hospital in Washington. She tries to leave him alone, letting her insecurities take over. But what happens when destiny takes over and he falls in love with her?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own none of the Twilight characters. That's all owned by the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing with her characters now because I'm too old for Barbie dolls.

Author's Note: I came up with this when I started reading the Twilight AU Human fan stories. The rest of my notes will come at the end of the chapters because I want to write what's in my head before I lose it. This is my first fan fiction story so bear with me, please.

**Chapter One: Do You Believe in Love at First Site?**

"**Miss Swan, would you please check in room 357, please? My son is in there and I really have nothing else for you to do."**

"**Sure, Dr. Cullen," I replied reluctantly. What was the point in any of this anyway? Moving to Washington with my father had been a bad idea. Attending the University of Washington was a bad idea. Volunteering for the C.O.E. program at UW was **_**definitely **_**a bad idea.**

**At first, when my mother got remarried, I was okay with it. Not pissed, but I could deal. Then she told me they were moving. I attended a university in Phoenix, that way I could live with my mother and still go to college. There was no reason for me to stay in Phoenix now. I had no home, and I definitely wasn't going to Florida. Moving in with my dad surely was just going to last until I finished school. Well, that's what I told myself and it was true, but I don't know how much longer I can stand Washington. The cold, the wet, the boring little town. **_**Is anything exciting ever going to happen? **_**I thought as I walked towards the elevator.**

**C.O.E. is a volunteer class for students at the university. They say it's volunteer work, but the "volunteers" actually do get paid. I started working at the Newton's camping store, but I still had a lot of boring time on my hands, so I joined the stupid "volunteer" group and got stuck working in the hospital work. Throwing me into the hospital part of C.O.E. had been their bad idea, seeing as the first time I saw blood I threw up so much I wound up in hospital bed myself. But refusing to help Dr. Cullen was hard. I was named his errand-runner because he barely ever needed help and he was nice enough to only have me check on the minor injured patients. Dr. Cullen was an extremely nice man, but he was so busy and I felt useless. And he was **_**good-looking. **_**He reminded me of Zeus or some kind of Greek god.**

_**Wait,**_** I thought,**_** the great Zeus has a son?…In the hospital?**_** He never mentioned a son before. But then again, it's not like we were close confidants. I walked into Room 357, expecting to see maybe stitches or something along those lines. The sound of heavy breathing caught my ears. He was sleeping. I couldn't see his face--it was turned away from me. He appeared to have a broken arm. Thankfully it was already patched up, probably done by the great Zeus himself.**

**I reached for his clipboard hanging on the side of the bed. **_**Cullen, Edward **_**was written at the top in bold. What an old-fashioned name. But then again, Carlisle wasn't very modern, either. Yep, broken arm. I wasn't really supposed to look at the patients' reason for being hospitalized, but sometimes I just got curious. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye before I could investigate further.**

**I looked up and locked gazes with the most beautiful man I had ever seen. I couldn't think. I couldn't move. I couldn't even look away. Finally, I dropped the clipboard and looked at my feet, blushing furiously.**

"**Sorry," I mumbled. He didn't say anything. He must have thought I was some sort of idiot ogling at him the way I did. I sure felt like one in these stupid blue scrubs.**

**Gathering up all my courage, I looked back at him. He was still looking at me with a strange expression. He was pale just like the rest of the hospital patients here, but his skin was beautiful. He had the weirdest shade hair color. It was a bronze color with shades of red like the color of an old gold coin. It was thick and went every which way possible. I studied the rest of his face. He resembled Michelangelo's Adonis sculpture, only he wasn't naked, something I was both happy and mad about. Happy, because I knew I would definitely be unable to look away, and mad because I really wanted to see if he had muscles as beautiful as his face. **

**Green eyes.**

**Green eyes? Who had green eyes these days? Well, one thing was for sure: If Carlisle was Zeus, then the gorgeous man in front of me was definitely Hercules.**

_**Crap! **_**was I ever going to look away and form a coherent thought? Hmpf. Probably not. Mustering all of my strength, I started with my usual routine.**

"**Do you need anything? A glass of water…ice cream maybe?" I asked, fighting to remember why I was here in the first place.**

**He said nothing. **

**Nothing.**

**Was there something entirely wrong with him? Something I missed? Deaf mute? I started counting, and if he didn't answer in 30 seconds, I decided I would fetch Dr. Cullen. Thankfully, when I got to ten, he responded.**

"**A name would be nice," he said. What did that mean? **

"**Um…your name is Edward Cullen…you're in a hospital in-"**

"**No, silly! I know **_**my**_** name. I wanted yours," he responded. His voice was like velvet and his eyes burned with some sort of intensity. My name? Why did he want my name? Oh no.**

"**Please don't tell Dr. Cullen I was peeking at your clipboard! I'm really sorry for invading your privacy! I can't lose this job because I signed up for it and I'll look bad if-" I started babbling but he cut me off again.**

"**Miss, as if I would tell anyone. You just offered me ice cream, after all. I'll more than likely be out of here by tomorrow anyway, just so you know," he said. I finally figured out his expression. He looked…sad.**

**Oh. I am an idiot.**

"**So…do you want anything?" I asked awkwardly.**

"**Well, ice cream sounds nice, but you don't have to-" I was out of the door before he finished. I was glad to be away despite the pull I felt towards him. It was like my mind and body were fighting. I decided I would run to the cafeteria, get a bowl of ice cream and run back. That way both body and mind won. I would be gone long enough to gain composure and short enough to see him again quickly. Like I said. Idiot.**

**Wait. What kind of ice cream did he want? Add moron to the list--I didn't even think to ask him. Everyone likes vanilla right? Before I could think any more, my hands were pushing the vanilla button on the ice cream machine, knowing the faster I pushed the button, the faster I would be near him again.**

**I practically ran back, but none of my fellow classmates were there to stare at me, thank goodness. When I reached his room, however, I saw why no one was wandering the halls. Several girls were trying to peek through the window of Edward's door. I felt a deep stab of hurt. That was when it all rushed over me. I barely knew this man and I was attracted to him. I wanted to know more about him…I wanted to know **_**him.**_** What was behind those sad but beautiful green eyes?**

**People like the beautiful Edward Cullen and people like me just didn't mix. The rejection that rushed over me made me actually want to cry. I was just a boring girl. Nothing beautiful. Nothing **_**interesting.**_** And he was. I made a decision. I would never see him again after this. He was leaving the hospital anyway. I didn't want to be pulled into those beautiful eyes again because he would reject me and hearing it from someone is so much worse than just assuming it.**

**I fought through the horde of giggling girls and went in. Dr. Cullen was there talking to Edward. I set the ice cream on the bedside table and started to leave.**

"**Hey wait!" Edward called. I turned around, blushing. "Where are you going?" he asked.**

"**Um, I have other paperwork to run off," I lied. I allowed myself one peek at him and quickly averted my eyes.**

"**Oh," he said. He looked at his father. I noticed they looked nothing alike. Definitely not like father and son. Dr. Cullen walked toward the door and I followed.**

"**Call Esme', Edward, she's worried sick," he said before departing. I reopened the door to let myself out when he spoke again.**

"**Miss, can you do me one more favor?" Anything. Everything. No. Yes. No.**

"**What?" I said, aggravated with myself. His perfect eyebrows scrunched up so cutely when he was taken aback from my tone.**

"**I want…no, I **_**need**_** your name," he said softly. Was he **_**trying**_** to give me a heart attack? My heart was going to explode from beating so fast. Or was he making fun of me? He could always get my name from his father, for sure.**

"**Why?" I snapped, concluding that he was trying to toy with me. Again, he looked sad. But for all I knew, he could act.**

"**I want a name to match the face. So that when I see you again, I can call you by your name and not by 'miss'," he declared.**

"**And what makes you think we'll see each other again?" I retorted.**

**He ignored my sassiness this time, "I guess you could call it fate…or maybe destiny, whichever you prefer." He grinned, not quite showing his teeth. I was mesmerized.**

"**Bella," I said simply, "my name is Bella, short for Isabella."**

"**Bella," he repeated thoughtfully. I turned to leave again. I heard him mutter the word **_**beautiful.**_

"**Bella," he said again, but calling me this time. I faced him again. "We will meet again. I promise."**

**Author's Note: So yeah I'm a big fluff ball. I got this whole idea from past experiences. Well the hospital part is totally made up but the next chapter is actually based off of how I met my boyfriend three years ago and it kind of copies off of The Notebook in some ways because the way we met is very similar to The Notebook. But I really wanted to write a story about Edward and Bella, two star crossed lovers. Other characters will unfold VERY soon so don't worry. Like I could possibly leave put Emmett. Sooo reviews please and any good ideas would be nice because I have no idea what the ending of this story will be. I also wanted to show how Edward realized he was in love with Bella before she realized her love for him just like in Twilight he realizes it when she says his name in her sleep and she doesn't realize it until after she knows what he is. I wanted to prove that point. Also, don't let the whole 'I'm basing this off of my own experiences' thing turn you away. I have thought over this for weeks to turn it into an Edward and Bella story and shy away from my story. It's actually VERY different. Only the words Edward says and the place are similar.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Wish I did, but sadly Edward Cullen is only owned by me in my dreams. And I always wake up right before he kisses me. Sometimes I think it's because my erratic heartbeat wakes me up. Ugh, I have such a bad case of Obsessive Cullen Disorder, it's not even funny.

Chapter Two: McSteamy

Things were getting out of hand. My mind was a whirlwind of so many different emotions. I was frustrated, anxious, confused, and, to my most dismay, excited. Hopeful, you could say.

He promised that we would see each other again. My heart soared at the idea but my mind was in chaos. I was idiotic to have hope of seeing this man again. Who says stuff like that anyway? Did he say that line to all the women his pretty face could pick up? My whole drive back to Forks was done by memory because his perfect face was all I could see.

And that _voice_…so steamy and velvety and manly. Ugh. A handsome guy who I'll never see again promises that we'll see each other again, and I get all giddy inside. Really, I was flattered, but it was wrong to hope because I would get hurt in the end. The most important thing I wondered was _did he mean it?_ And if he did, what was _I_ going to do?

I also wondered what was wrong with him. Curiosity--another one. Why was his arm broken? He probably had some sort of crazy scary possessive lunatic girlfriend who attacked him with a bat when he mentioned breaking up with her or something. _Ha, _I started to laugh at that but stopped when I pictured a girl by his side. My merry feeling vanished and was replaced by…anger? What was wrong with me? I could not be…_jealous, _especially over Edward Cullen. _Wow, _I thought, _maybe I'm the crazy possessive lunatic here._ I sighed. Jealousy. My mind was going to blow.

I didn't even notice I was home until I was turning the key to get into Charlie's house. The lights were already on and the big screen television was blaring. That usually meant game night with Billy and Charlie. I walked in and saw them sitting in the couch with popcorn in between them and empty leftover lasagna plates on the coffee table.

I saw movement from the other side of the living room, and my eyes met the sweet black eyes of Jacob Black, the russet-skinned six-foot-seven body builder of the Quileute Reservation in La Push. He may have looked like some sort of Indian Jason looking monster, but to me he was just a kid.

Jake was my-unwillingly on my part-first kiss. Jacob and I always hung out every time I came to Forks, and my dad always talked about how he hoped Jake and I would end up together.

It never worked, of course, but I liked Jake. He was a great guy and was really easy to talk to, but he was extremely immature. I didn't really have a type of guy having never been in a serious relationship, but Jake wasn't it for me. I hated him for a while, though. In ninth grade, he practically grabbed me and forced his tongue down my throat, probably hoping his kissing expertise would make me fall desperately in love with him, It didn't.

I was so mad at him for stealing my first kiss-something that is special to every girl-and making it absolutely horrible that I didn't talk to him again until eleventh grade. Then it was just awkward because he wanted to be with me still and I didn't know what I wanted. I still don't know what I want. Hell, I can't even think with Edward Stupid Cullen clouding up my brain.

"Hi Bella," Jacob said cheerfully, "long time no see eh?" Jacob's dad, Billy, turned to look at me. He started laughing when he saw what I was wearing.

"Nice scrubs, Bells. You look like you just came out of Grey's Anatomy," he chuckled, "had any good affairs with Dr. McDreamy today?" Jake laughed and Charlie frowned.

At the hospital, people called Carlisle Dr. McDreamy. _Hmph, _I thought wryly, _we could nickname Edward McSteamy and we could "run errands" together instead._ Then I rolled my eyes at myself. Maybe I could sleep my insanity off.

"No, she's way too pretty to be on that show," Jake said with a wink. I rolled my eyes again.

"Okay, good night every one," I sighed, retreating upstairs. I promised myself that by the time I woke up tomorrow, I wouldn't care who Edward Cullen was.

No such luck. That was the first night I dreamt of Edward Cullen.

*******************

When I woke up the next morning, I took a shower, brushed my teeth, debated on ponytail, down, or somewhere in between, and then decided it didn't matter because I looked plain anyway, and headed to class.

As usual, people stared at my roaring truck as I tried to find a parking spot, but they were getting used to seeing a tiny little 5'4" girl jumping out of a gigantic so-rusty-you-can't-tell-it's-red Chevy, so at least no one pointed and laughed anymore.

"Hey Arizona!" Mike Newton called, running up to me. I thought seriously about pretending not to see him and continue walking until he reached me and started walking with me to class. "I was wondering if you were working tonight with me. Or do you have that C.E.O. thing again today?"

"Mike, it's C.O.E., and yes, I am working tonight…with you," I added reluctantly. I worked at Newton's Hardware three days a week and at the hospital two days a week.

"Well, what are you doing this weekend?" he asked hopefully.

"Um…I'm working," I replied. I would take a day of work over a date with Michael Newton any day.

"But the fair is this weekend! You can't miss it. It's in Seattle, so there will be a lot of people, and it's going to be so much fun. And we can go dancing under the-"

"Well, you can definitely forget that feature of the fair. Dancing is out. Dancing and I are like Donald Trump and Rosie O' Donald," I said.

We reached my class and I thanked God he wasn't in this one with me. "Bye, Mike. I'll see you at work." He skulked away.

I worked with Mike at the store, but really I was the only one that actually got anything done. Since his parents owned the place, he decided that he didn't need to help me, especially after I refused all of his offers for a dinner. One time I actually snapped on him when I was on a ladder picking up boots and caught him staring at my butt.

I sat behind a small girl who resembled a pixie with her spiky hair and tiny figure. We never had a real conversation, but I knew her from her bubbly character. Her name was Alice, and she was like a big ball of energy. She was the energizer bunny in the form of a young girl. I took my seat behind her.

"Hi Bella! Are you going to the fair this weekend?" I looked up to see Alice turned in her seat, waiting for me to reply. I shrugged.

"Probably not," I said.

"Oh, you should come. It's always best right before the summer and you'll meet so many people and have so much fun. The rides are always the best and the men who run them get so drunk that they don't care if you paid to ride the rides or not. And when you go on the dance floor-"

"I don't know, Alice. I haven't made up my mind yet." As I said this, the teacher walked in and started droning on about a research paper due in two weeks.

Alice and I whispered the whole rest of the period about how I got to Forks. She asked me questions about my mom and about the malls in Phoenix and about the cute tanned boys at my old college.

I really liked Alice. She was a talker, and I was a listener. We never ran out of things to talk about because she wanted to know _everything._ I felt bad that I knew nothing about her. Hell, I didn't even know her last name. She never gave me a chance to ask her a question about herself, either.

When the bell rang, I stood up to get my stuff and she mentioned again how I should go with her and her friend Rosalie Hale to the fair Saturday night.

"I'll go, I guess. I really have nothing else to do and if you say it's fun , I believe you. But no dancing," I said, giving in. It couldn't hurt. "Mike Newton asked me to go with him, but I'd rather dip my feat in tar before I go anywhere with him."

She laughed at that. "You need to meet my brother. You two will like each other. Maybe we can all meet up at the fair," she added hopefully, "he needs to get out and meet people. He just got back from Afghanistan and I think it may have messed him up a bit. Stupid boy comes home hurt and gets better and then decides to hurt himself again. Well, really, it was Tanya's fault, but still." I had no idea what she was talking about but I knew one thing. Edward's gorgeous face popped into my head. It should have been a sign then, but I didn't acknowledge it.

"Alice, I hope you're not hoping to hook me up with anyone. Really, I don't want-"

She cut me off, "Oh, don't worry, Bella, you two will get along just fine. Believe me, I know these things. And I have a feeling you and I are going to be great friends." And with that, she walked out leaving me confused.

Today was only Thursday, so I had a while to come up with an outfit for Saturday. I went to work that afternoon hoping Mike wouldn't ask me to go to the fair with him again. In every class, people were buzzing about the fair. I couldn't see the point of it. Riding the rides seemed childish and I definitely wasn't going on any. It was pointless for me to go, but I told Alice I would go, and I always stuck with a decision once I made it.

_That's not true, _a voice in my head started, _you promised yourself not to think of Edward anymore, but look at you. _It was true. I saw his beautiful emerald eyes every time I saw something that sparkled.

I compared him to guys in my classes. There was no comparison. I started to notice little things on some of the boys. Edward things. One guy had messy hair similar to his, but not as hot as his. Another one's jawbones were prominent like his but weren't quite as manly as Edward's.

_Why? _Why was I so drawn to him? It couldn't be just his looks, right? I'd never had this big of a crush on anyone before. My whole day Friday was spent thinking about him. _Again._ Maybe I should take up on Alice's offer and meet her brother. There was no chance he would be as handsome as Edward, but maybe if I was lucky he would be cute enough to be in my league, and it would help me get my mind off of Hercules.

Mike kept asking me why I was so quiet and thoughtful. I paid him less attention than usual, and eventually he gave up. I knew it wouldn't be long though. Mike Newton never gave up, even with Jessica Stanley always up his butt. She was pretty. Why didn't he just follow her affection for him and go off into the sunlight with her? Oh. Right. Because he's Mike Newton and he never gives up on Bella Swan.

I gave Alice my number Friday in class and we made further plans. I didn't really listen. I was with Edward in my dream world again.

Saturday morning I picked out a cute blue blouse and a knee length khaki skirt. It was the cutest outfit I owned. It was unusually warm today even though it was April. The weatherman said that it was going to rain this morning but was going to be dry for the night. Maybe my luck was looking up. Just in case, I decided to bring a light jacket.

Alice called me around six and said she would pick me up in a half hour. I was about to explain to her where I lived but she said there was no need because everyone knew where everyone lived around here.

She showed up on time and took in my outfit. I felt ordinary again compared to her. She looked beautiful in her jean capris and loose stylish cami over the pink tank top.

"You look really pretty, Bella, but I have just the thing to make you look drop dead stunning," she said as I got in her yellow Porsche. She handed me a makeup bad and said, "dig out the blue eye shadow and put a little bit on, okay? And add some mascara, too. It makes your eyes pop."

Not wanting to be rude, I complied. I wasn't much of a makeup person. My complexion was nice, but I needed to blush to make it pretty.

Once we arrived in Seattle a while later, Alice pulled me into the crowd among the people. We met up with a girl named Rosalie Hale right off the dance floor and immediately I knew this girl didn't like me. Alice attempted to introduce us, but Rosalie almost refused to even look at me.

"Hey Rose, I'm glad you decided to show up. Bella, this s Rosalie. Rose, this is Bella," Alice said excitedly. I held out my hand to shake but she looked at it and looked away never even looking at my face. I pulled my hand away, embarrassed. Maybe luck wasn't on my side. Rosalie Hale looked like supermodel with her voluptuous curves and her long blonde hair.

"Rose is dating my oldest brother, Emmett. They met a few years ago," Alice told me. "Where is the big bear anyway, Rose?"

Rose finally spoke, "Oh I suspect he's somewhere doing something stupid with E-" she stopped mid-sentence and finally looked at me, "your other dear brother," she finished quickly, looking back at Alice. I heard a booming laugh and we all turned to see a very large, very muscular man who looked to be about twenty-five walking toward us. He had dark, curly hair and sweet blue eyes that made him look like a giant teddy bear.

He put his arm around Rosalie and Alice introduced us. Unlike his unfriendly girlfriend, he shook my hand with enthusiasm.

"Bella, this is Emmett. He may look like the Hulk, but I assure you, he's a like a hamster."

Emmett smiled, "So this is the famous Bella-" he made a huh noise when Rosalie elbowed him in the stomach. "What?" he said incredulously. Wait. I didn't understand that. Why would Alice have talked about me to her family? Alice grabbed me by the elbow and led me out of the tent, throwing Emmett a scowl.

We started walking toward the Ferris Wheel when Alice's phone started buzzing in her pocket. It was a text. She typed back hurriedly and said, "C'mon, my brother that I want you to meet is waiting around the tilt-a-whirl with one of his friends." I looked at her skeptically and she just led me on with a giant smile on her tiny face.

There were people everywhere. I recognized some of the La Push gang huddled around a tree drinking and I saw a few people from the university.

Once we neared the ride, two tall men came into view. "Look, there they are," Alice said. One had his leg in a cast, but I couldn't really make out the taller one because it was dark and they had their backs facing us. We got even closer, about ten feet away, and the taller boy turned toward his friend and I noticed something.

His arm was in a sling.

Hercules.

No. _Yes…_ No.

I abruptly stopped walking and looked at Alice. The little sneak had another gigantic grin on her face. She stopped, too.

"What, Bella?" she said innocently.

"You planned this, didn't you?" I said, about to hyperventilate. She opened her mouth, about to respond, but was interrupted when I felt a light tug on the hood of my jacket. I turned and met the sad yet beautiful eyes of the man I'd been dreaming about for days.

The left side of his mouth lifted slightly, revealing a few sparkly white teeth. His crooked smile stopped my breath for good. God, he was so tall! I hadn't noticed when he was lying in that hospital bed. He leaned in so that his face was about four inches from mine, his messy bronze hair falling onto his forehead in just the right place. When he spoke, his honey breath hit my face and his voice was so velvety and beautiful I was surprised I was paying attention enough to know what he said.

I watched his lips as they moved, "What did I tell you?"


	3. Chapter 3: The Fair

Chapter Three: The Fair

His eyes were blazing. They were sad for about a second, but then the intensity in them changed to a different emotion. My jaw was probably on the ground, but I didn't have the strength to pull it back up. I wasn't coherent. My dreams had done him no justice. I knew it was rude to stare, so I tried to look away. I failed, only looking down, catching sight of his beautiful body. He was wearing a long sleeved blue t-shirt and he had the sleeved pushed up to his elbows. He had on jeans, a dark denim color, that fit him perfectly. I looked up at his chest and the muscles I saw there were prominent and beautiful and hard. He was a Hollister model out of the magazine.

My evaluation lasted about a minute, and then I realized everyone was looking at me. Hadn't Hercules promised that we would see each other again in the hospital? Well, I was definitely seeing him now, ogling at him like an idiot.

He chuckled--the most beautiful sound in the world--and I finally closed my mouth and attempted to look sane and smile.

"Bella," he said it like a statement, still only inches from me. His breath hit my face, and he smelled like honey and mint.

"Oooh, have you two met before?" Alice asked in an oversweet, innocent voice. Edward laughed again. I looked at the pixy and my eyes stung when I pulled them away from the god before me.

The traitor. Or maybe she was my best friend now. She'd brought me to Edward. Was that good or bad? My heart leaned toward good. This had to be Alice's doing. _Did he tell her about me?_ That sent butterflies through my stomach. Was it really possible that this unworldly man could have feelings for me? Enough to get his sister to hook us up? That didn't really like Edward, though I didn't know him at all. But then again, maybe I should just be grateful.

The stranger next to Edward--who I never noticed until now--put his hand out to shake. His leg was in a cast and he was on crutches. I briefly wondered what happened to him, too. Maybe he and Edward got hurt together. I recalled what Alice said about her brother coming back from Afghanistan. Edward had been at war. WOW.

I shook the other guy's hand as Edward introduced us. "Jasper, this is Bella and my sister, Alice." Jasper had honey blonde hair and dark brown eyes. He and Alice shook hands shyly. They never looked away from each other. It would have been cute if my mind, and eyes, hadn't been focused on Edward.

Edward.

Edward.

Edward.

The name gave me tingles inside.

"Umm, okay well," Alice started, "Jasper, do you want to get some cotton candy with me?" He nodded, and I suddenly realized he and Alice were leaving Edward and me.

Alone.

Yep. The traitor.

"Hey, wait-"

"Oh, go on with Edward, Bella," Alice cut me off as she and Jasper started walking away. She turned around and gave me a wink. Hesitantly, I looked back at Edward.

"So, have you ever been to a Seattle fair?" he asked, starting to walk in another direction. I followed.

"No actually. I just moved here from Phoenix," I said, "But I'm sure Alice will have told you all about that." He smiled.

"She certainly tried to," he said.

"What does that mean?" I asked, confused.

"Well, you know Alice. She likes to be on top of things. She wanted to tell me everything about you. When I got back from the hospital, she practically chased me around begging for me to listen. But I didn't want to listen. I put my hands over my ears and started singing stupid stuff to get her to leave me alone."

That hurt…He…didn't want to know. He wasn't interested in me.

Edward must have seen the look on my face because the next thing he said made _me_ want to sing.

"I didn't want to listen because I wanted to find out everything about you myself," he said. When I didn't answer, he grew worried and said quickly, "I'm sorry if I seem forward, Bella, really, I just want to know you." I smiled.

"Do you really mean that? Or do you use that on all the ladies? Do you get your sister to drag every girl you like to you?" I said. His sad frown made me start to regret what I said, but I wanted to know if he was being serious or not.

"No, Bella. It's not like that. I didn't ask Alice to drag you here. I just…I had to talk to you again. I had to see you again. It's like I'm…like I'm drawn to you," he finished. As he said all this, he stopped in front of me facing me and I stopped too. He blushed a little by what I could see from the fair lights. There were children running around and old men drinking but I couldn't see anything but Edward. He really meant what he said. I smiled again.

Then I saw Mike. He was walking toward us. I didn't know if he saw me or not, but I definitely didn't want to take the chance of this wonderful moment being ruined by Mike Newton.

Acting on impulse, I grabbed Edward's hand and ran to the tents. I could feel the electricity zinging as our hands touched. He did not try to stop me, actually, he seemed a little excited. "Where are we going, Bella?" he asked simply, as if we were just taking a stroll in the park. I looked at him as I ran, and then checked to see if Mike was still there before I stopped. He was behind us, but he wasn't chasing us. He was walking quickly, as if he wanted to catch up without making a scene. I knew he saw me, but I would deal with that problem later. I wanted Edward all to myself now that I knew that was what he really wanted. Edward had no trouble keeping up with me.

"I don't know, but I am not having my night ruined by Mike Newton!" I said to him, trying to find a secluded spot to hide until he lost sight of me. Edward chuckled softly, but then he pulled me another way, looking serious.

"I know a spot in this park. C'mon," he said, and he led me to a rundown building away from the rides. I couldn't see Mike anymore, and sighed in relief. He opened the broken door for me. The place was minuscule, like a shack. When we went inside I looked around and realized it was an old bathroom that probably hadn't been used in over twenty years. Edward apologized for the escape route, but I just smiled. It was very cramped in here. I started to look around at the old bathroom stalls, and Edward followed me.

"They say this bathroom is haunted, and one time someone wanted to tear it down, but ghosts supposedly scared off the construction workers. The legend is that a young girl died giving birth in this very stall, and you can hear a baby crying when you step into it," he said, pointing toward a grimy looking toilet stall. A shiver ran through my body. I didn't believe in ghosts, but the idea of a girl giving birth in here gave me the heebie jeebies.

"Do you want a closer look?" Edward asked. He bravely stepped into the stall and held his hand out toward me. I took it, wanting to show him how spontaneous I could be when I wanted, but admittedly I was breaking out in goose bumps, especially when we touched. I sidestepped facing him until we were both in the stall. It was so cramped that our chest were touching and Edward's breath blew on my forehead, making me more nervous.

"So, were you running away from a crazy ex boyfriend?" he asked, chuckling, but I could hear the dead curiosity in his voice. _Was he jealous?_

I laughed, "No, he's just some creepy guy I work with. He's always trying to get my number, but I've told him over and over again that I'm not interested. Edward smiled. He looked relieved.

"That reminds me of how I got this," he said, raising his hurt arm. Was I right about the crazy possessive girlfriend? My heart dropped.

"Crazy possessive girlfriend?" I asked, severely hoping for another answer. He laughed again, teasing my ears.

"No. Definitely not. There is this girl named Tanya that has wanted me for ages. Her parents and mine are the best of friends, and I don't share her feelings. She's very like your friend Mike. When she heard about my getting back home, she just sort of rushed over…and…I tripped on my back porch running away. And that's how I got this," he lifted his arm again, blushing. He was so cute. I laughed so hard that I could feel my eyes tearing up.

Then I remembered Alice telling me about the war, "Alice said that you got hurt at in Afghanistan and that you hurt yourself again. What happened?"

"Oh, yeah. Did you see Jasper's broken leg?" he asked. I nodded. "Well, to make a long story short, we were in a unit together, and when we moved to another spot, this bomb went off and we got knocked to the ground. Jasper's leg broke, some of the other guys were hurt, but nothing happened to me until we started running away. We were all ambushed by these men, and I got shot in my arm. It really wasn't all that bad and it didn't hurt too much, but then it got infected and hurt like hell, and that's when I was taken to a hospital there and Jasper and I were sent home." I looked at him with wide eyes. He smirked at my expression and continued, "I was still healing when I came home and then Tanya has to come and ruin everything. They had to put me to sleep to check if the bone would heal right after being shot, and that's when I met you," he paused, "I guess I should thank Tanya the next time I see her," he laughed, "and imagine the cool scar I'm going to have when I finally get out of this sling."

I gaped at him, not thinking it was funny. We were still touching and he moved a little bit closer to me as I heard something and gasped.

"What's wrong?" he asked me.

"Didn't you hear that? That baby crying?" I had major goose bumps now. Edward laughed again. I wanted to run, but I wanted to stay more. Edward voiced my thoughts.

"I'm sorry this isn't very romantic. Standing in a stall next to a haunted toilet. It's definitely not what I imagined happening tonight if I was lucky enough to see you, Bella," I liked the way he said my name,

"But I wouldn't change this for anything," he added. My heart swelled as I felt his beating right against mine.


	4. Chapter 4: Forks: Home?

"_I'm sorry this isn't very romantic. Standing in a stall next to a haunted toilet. It's definitely not what I imagined happening tonight if I was lucky enough to see you, Bella," I liked the way he said my name._

"_But I wouldn't change this for anything," he added. My heart swelled as I felt his beating right against mine._

Chapter Four

Forks: Home?

I thought about what Edward said as I shifted my wait in the stall to get more comfortable. He shifted too, closer to me. It felt like his whole body was aligned with mine and thanked God that it was dark because I was blushing furiously. Indeed, this was not the most romantic spot, and my heart jumped up when I heard the ghostly cry, but I could not bring myself to be scared. Edward was here with me. This was the best night of my life. I couldn't believe I hadn't wanted to come.

Well, seeing Edward hadn't been part of the plan, but he had made sure to carry out his promise.

He moved his face closer to mine. Was he trying to kiss me? I really liked Edward, and because of that, I did NOT want our first kiss to be in a run down haunted bathroom. And I wanted to kiss him badly, but then I didn't because I hadn't kissed anyone in almost a year and I became afraid that I would not meet up to his expectations. Not that I ever would, really, but I hoped at least that our first kiss wouldn't be disastrous. Was it too soon? I still barely knew him, but I _wanted _to know him. I _wanted_ to taste his honey flavored lips on mine.

When do you kiss someone for the first time? Is there really a wrong or right answer for that? If you truly feel it, shouldn't you just go for it? Or should you wait to play it safe?

He must have thought this was the wrong place and time too, because his lips never reached mine. They trailed across my cheek and down to my jaw line, like he wanted to taste me, but not fully yet. He did this twice, and shivers ran down my spine as his cool breath hit my pulse.

He chuckled when he felt my heart racing erratically against his. I closed my eyes at the beautiful sound. His hands moved to my waistline and to my…pocket? That's what it felt like. He chuckled again.

"What is it?" I asked softly. I desperately wanted to know what was going on inside that beautiful head of his.

"I heard it this time," he said, finally bringing his head up and looking at me, but not moving otherwise. At first I thought he meant my heartbeat, but then realized he meant the crying child.

"Scared?" I whispered.

"No. I'm not scared of anything," he said, looking into my eyes with his fierce look. Yeah, he was starting to sound like Hercules, too.

"Okay, then Mister High and Mighty. The scary bathroom ghost might haunt you in your bedroom tonight for saying that," I responded. He smiled and took my hand again, leading us out of the stall finally.

"Do you think we could rejoin everyone outside now? Or are you still afraid of the creepy stalker who chased us?" he asked.

"You know what I think? I think you just want to leave here because you're scared of the ghoul," I teased. I hoped he didn't want to leave me. I wanted to spend hours and hours with him. I didn't want him to _ever _leave me.

He just laughed again and we walked out of the scary bathroom, hand in hand at first, but when we saw Alice running up to us, I let go, not wanting things to be awkward.

"Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you two!" Alice nearly shouted, Jasper trying and failing to keep up with his cast.

"We ran into complications, Alice," Edward muttered and he leaned into my ear and whispered, "or more like ran _from."_ I giggled, loving the feeling of his breath on my ear again. Alice rolled her eyes.

"Well, the rides are about to close, so I figured we should go into the tent where everyone is going to be," Alice said smiling at me, like she knew something I didn't again.

"Would you like to join them?" Edward asked me. I nodded, really wanting alone time with him, but I knew Alice wasn't going to leave us alone anyway. Edward and I followed Alice and Jasper to the blue and white tent in silence. It wasn't awkward, but I could feel the electricity still. Every time I would look at him, he'd already been staring at me. I blushed every time and he smiled every time until we finally reached our destination. We met up with Rosalie and Emmett who were drinking and all over each other.

Suddenly Edward got my attention by tugging on my jacket and asking if I wanted to leave. I really didn't want to leave, but I was getting tired and it seemed like he wanted to go. I didn't want him to do something he didn't want to, like stay here and hang out with the most boring person on the planet. My heart fell slightly at the thought that he wasn't enjoying his time with me, but I hoped this would not be the last time we would see each other. I nodded and he told Alice something and he led me to the parking lot.

He pressed a button on his keys and I saw that a shiny silver Volvo's lights lit up and realized that it was his car. Of course, he had to be beautiful _and _rich.

Before I could get to the passenger side of the car, Edward was there. What, did he expect me to drive or something? But then I noticed he was standing there with the door open. Waiting for me to get in. I guess chivalry isn't dead when it comes to Edward Cullen. I smiled at him and got in. He walked to his side of the car and backed out silently.

When we got onto the road, I became curious. "Are you aloud to be driving with your arm like that," I asked.

He smiled devilishly and said, "Actually, no, I'm not. The medication they've got me on says not to drive, but I wasn't going to skip a chance to see you just because of a stupid pill." He saw my worried look and tried to soothe me, "Bella, you have nothing to worry about. I'm a safe driver, and I would never let anything happen to you."

If this was any other guy, I probably would have laughed in his face for being so corny, but Edward was different. I worshipped every word his lips gave to me, and these words were for me, Bella Swan.

"I can't believe I thought about skipping out tonight. If I had known that Alice was talking about you in our conversation at school, I would have…well I don't know what I would have done, but I would have done something," I finished, somewhat lamely.

He grinned at me, and I blushed and looked away. That was when I noticed the speedometer. We were going 80 in a 45.

"OH MY GOD SLOW DOWN!!!" I yelled.

He burst out laughing.

"I thought you said you were a good driver!!!" I said.

"I am. I have to be to go this fast and avoid wrecking," he said, still laughing, "you should see you face!"

"It's not funny! I swear Edward Cullen, if you don't slow down, I'll…I'll…"

"I like it when you say my name. Say it again," he said.

"Stop flirting with me and slow down. Please," I said angrily, adding on the please like a whimper before I peed my pants.

He groaned but slowed to 60, "I hate driving slow."

"Yeah well, get used to it if you want me in your car again," I said, knowing that I would probably still ride with him no matter how fast he was driving.

"Does that mean you want to get in my car again?" he said slyly.

"Don't push your luck. I'm still flustered," I said. I was lying. My anger had evaporated the moment he started flirting with me.

In about 45 minutes we were parked in front of my house. I wondered how he knew where I lived, but decided that since this was Forks, everyone knew where everyone lived. Charlie's car wasn't there; he must have had to work late tonight. I looked at Edward, wanting to stay. I briefly wondered if I should invite him in, but that would probably send the wrong impression.

He looked sad, like he didn't want me to go either. We stayed like that for about a minute, just staring into each other's eyes. Brown into green. Our children would more than likely have catpoo colored eyes.

_No, you crazy girl, what are you thinking? Children?_ Again, out of my mind. It was a good thing he wasn't some sort of supernatural creature that could read minds.

"I don't want you to leave," Edward said softly, pulling me out of my reverie.

"I don't want to leave," I responded, my voice just a whisper. He hesitantly lifted his good hand and traced my cheekbones with his fingers, barely touching me. His fingers were calloused, but the sweet roughness of them felt like heaven on my soft skin. I closed my eyes and leaned into his hand, thinking about how far we'd come tonight, and never wanting it to end.

"What's your favorite color?" he whispered. I opened my eyes and looked at him questioningly.

"What?" I asked.

"I want to know. Like I said, I want to find out everything about you myself," he explained.

"Ummm, well, I don't know, it changes day to day," I responded.

"Well, what is your favorite color today?" he pressed.

"Hmmm, white I guess. It's the lightest color there is and it goes with anything," I said.

"What's your favorite flower?" he asked.

He was going to laugh, "I know it sounds girly and cliché', but I love roses," I said.

He smiled again, taking my breath away. His half smirk made my heart skip a beat, but when he showed all his teeth in a full smile, my heart felt like it would stop completely, like I wanted to freeze the moment.

The rest of the night continued in that fashion. He asked me little questions like what was my most embarrassing moment and how I used to hate Forks. By midnight my eyes had started drooping, and I realized we had been sitting in his car talking for two hours.

"You look tired. I should let you go," he said sadly. I yawned involuntarily.

"I don't want to leave," I repeated my words from two hours ago, but I knew it was no use, and I didn't want this sexy man to see me fall asleep in his car.

"I don't want you to leave, either, but…we will see each other again, Bella," he said, deep emotion in his voice. My eyes widened at his words that I had memorized since the day we met in the hospital. He smiled at my expression, "I promise."

"Goodnight, Edward," I said feeling giddy as all hell.

"Sweet dreams, Bella," he said. And with that, I got out of his car, knowing that he would find a way to see me again. I watched as he drove away from my front door, and when he was out of sight, I ran to my room and started jumping up and down on the bed like a school girl who just had her first kiss.

Before I walked to the bathroom to bathe, I checked my phone. I had a text from Alice asking if I had a good time and if I was still mad at her. I quickly sought out her contact number to write back and I realized I had another Cullen stored in my phone.

**Edward Cullen**

The little sneak! He was worse than his sister! I _knew _I felt something in my pocket when we were in that bathroom stall. I smiled to myself. Edward Cullen had given me his number. He wanted to talk to me, and by giving me his number instead of asking for mine, he was telling me that I had a choice in this. I could turn him down and never call.

But _that_ wasn't going to happen. My choice was already made when I saw him tonight.

And just like he promised, we would see each other again.


	5. Chapter 5: Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. I hope you like this chapter because I pulled out hair to write it. It made me happy in the end though. My peeps on Twilighted were begging for EPOV so I decided to do this and it made me happy. =] Enjoy!

Edward's POV

Chapter Five: Dreams

It is very endearing to see how people trust one another. Getting in cars with strangers, drinking after someone, hiding a house key under a plant. Yes, they are very endearing, but also very stupid. I'd always thought trustworthy people were ignorant and not worth anything because they all just about invited a chance to ruin their own lives. Snow white took an apple from an old hag and died. Well, she deserved it, didn't she? She took the apple, she took a chance in biting it; she should have thought about what she was doing.

This was what I had told myself for years. Trust no one. But Bella Swan trusted me. Bella Swan let me take her home. Bella Swan got into a car with someone she barely knew. Bella Swan spent a near half hour in a rundown building with me. How did she know that I wasn't some sort of crazed psychopath rapist? She had only met me once, and on that occasion I barely talked to her. I was not complaining, however.

Bella. She was beautiful. I woke up in the hospital to her. My first thoughts were that I had died from the surgery and gone straight to heaven. The first thing I saw was her long wavy brown hair that fell to the middle of her back. It was perfect; the color was pure and the curls were just right. It wasn't too curly to seem as if she had a fro, but it wasn't too flat to appear messy. She was slightly turned away from me, so I only got a view of her profile. I saw brown eyes and a little nose and then lips that were uneven yet perfect.

Looking down more I had seen a large blue shirt that looked an awful lot like a nurse's uniform. That was when I gasped. I was in the hospital .I was alive and so was the perfect being in front of me. She turned and I met those deep pools of brown chocolate that were her eyes. Her little nurse outfit was adorable even though it clung very loosely. One sleeve was pushed almost off her shoulder, and I saw her precious exposed collarbone.

Exquisite. I had never seen anything so beautiful.

Sure, I'd seen beautiful women. I'd seen hundreds. But none were real. None were interesting. They were all the same. Same hairstyle, same clothes, same physique and egotistical ways. Bella was different, she was special. And she had been sassy to me. That was hot. She reminded me of a cute little kitten that thinks it's a tiger.

Bella was trustworthy. She trusted me, and if someone so special and genuine could be that way, then maybe trust wasn't such a bad thing.

When I dropped Bella off, she showed me how trustworthy she was. I watched her as I pulled out of her driveway, and I saw when she pulled a key out from under a flower pot next to her front door. People hid their keys there all the time, but what if someone else saw her put her key there? Like a rapist or something? That person would undoubtedly hurt her. Didn't she know better? And what was worse, after she unlocked the knob to her front door, she put the key back under the pot. She had to have known I was watching.

I pulled out of her drive, knowing that I would tell her soon that she shouldn't keep a key there. It was the first place burglars looked when they planned to attack.

Soon. I hoped she made the decision to call me. Of course, thanks to Alice, I already had her number, but she didn't know that, and I didn't want her to. I told her earlier that I wanted to find out everything about her myself, and that would have made her think I was lying. I hoped that she would find my number in her phone, though. And soon. If she didn't, I wouldn't know what to do. Would I call her myself?

And more importantly, did she want to call me? I had feelings for her. Maybe it wasn't love yet, but I could see myself falling in love with Bella Swan. I had never been in love. Dated, yes. Kissed, yes. But nothing else. I never wanted to just sleep with someone. Sex is a powerful thing, but I was raised to believe that only when you love someone and want them forever is when you should give that person all of you. One person that you want to marry and grow old with. My brother Emmett constantly made fun of me for being a 21 year old virgin. He asked me if I was waiting for marriage, but truly I was just waiting for the right person. And I never felt that way about anyone. I never fell in love. No girl had ever been special enough to spark my interests. Not until now.

And I wanted to do something for her. Something that showed how much I cared about her. To show her she was special.

My plan started in my head the moment that she shared a few things about herself with me in the car and I saw where she kept her keys. I just hoped she didn't think I was crazy or obsessive. It was all or nothing.

Close to two thirty in the morning I was fighting with myself. I had to see her now. I couldn't sleep. I never got much sleep lately but tonight was extra hard. I woke up Alice because though I didn't want it, I needed her help and my decision was made.

Gathering everything took about another half hour, and around three thirty I was off. My heart jumped in my chest at the sight of her house. Chief Swan's cruiser still wasn't there and I was thankful. He must have been working the night shift.

I parked my Volvo in her driveway, my heart now going as fast as Bella's was when we were alone together in that stupid stall. Thinking about it reminded me that I had almost kissed her then. What a stupid mistake I almost made. It would have been horrible. It was too soon, I didn't know if she returned my feelings, and we were in a haunted bathroom stall for God's sake!

I was very, very thankful toward Rosalie right now. She had worked on my Volvo with her mechanical skills and made it run smooth and fast to the point that I knew Bella wouldn't wake up to the sound of it pulling up at her house.

Just a few more minutes. Just a few more minutes until I would see her again. I gathered everything from the bag in my backseat, thankful that everything fit in one bag and I didn't have to make another trip, and headed to the front door.

I sat the bag down and pulled the key from under the pot and entered Bella's house for the first time. I prayed that when she found this she would not think of me as some peeping Tom but as someone who cared about her and wanted to make her happy.

Jitters and a cold sweat were upon my body as I walked to the stairs. From my time at war, I knew how to be as quiet as a mouse, so I didn't worry about waking her. I silently walked upstairs, surprised that not one stair squeaked. Luck must have been on my side.

Finally, I made it to her room, and her door was open.

She was lying there looking more beautiful than I had ever seen her, like an angel. Had she had trouble falling asleep like I had? Was she excited about seeing me again at the fair? I desperately hoped so. I couldn't stop staring at her sleeping form.

She took my breath away. Her hair was spread out on her pillows like long, thick ribbons of silk. Her lips were pouted and pink. Her forehead kept crinkling as if she was concentrating on something in her dream, but otherwise she looked peaceful.

What does she dream about? I wondered. I knew I had little time and there was much to do so that I could be gone before she awoke. Quietly I followed out my plan. It was hard to resist looking at her, though.

After about twenty minutes I was finished, and I looked at my handiwork, proud of myself for not waking her. Then I looked at her again one last time for the night.

Beautiful.

She kept moving her lips as if to say something in her sleep. I moved closer. Maybe I could find out what she dreamed about if I read her lips, but nothing I saw seemed like words. Seeing the break of dawn through her window, I reluctantly turned to leave.

"Edward."

I turned so quick that I almost fell over. Her eyes were still closed. Did I hear right? She said my name with her sweet voice.

"Edward." I watched as her lips formed the word.

Bella talked in her sleep. Bella said my name. Bella dreamed of me. She smiled, still dreaming and made an mmmm sound as if she were sighing happily. I smiled, too.

And in that moment, I knew that I had finally done what I was starting to think was impossible.

I fell in love.

Bella's POV (because I need it)

I woke up to a thousand beautiful white roses. And I smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

This chapter took what seems like forever. I hope you like it. It may seem that Bella and Edward are moving too fast, but this was how it played in my head, so I put it down.

I don't own Twilight!

Chapter Six: Text Message

Bella POV:

One thousand roses.

Oh my God. There were exactly one thousand roses.

I knew this because I counted. Three times.

I knew that I should be angry with Edward. After all, he pretty much broke into my house. But I couldn't feel anger. All I felt was happiness. I was also scared, too, but for all the wrong reasons. I should be scared for what he did last night. I should be angry with him for invading my privacy. But instead I was scared of what I had said in my sleep.

I always knew that I talked in my sleep; my parents told me about it when I was younger. It had been an unconscious habit since I learned how to talk, and I talked most when I dreamed. And I had a very, very good dream last night.

I dreamed that Edward and I had our first kiss. More than one dream, too. The first dream I had we were on a ship, and we were on Pirates of the Caribbean and Edward was wearing a sexy pirate outfit and he had a sword and a bandana wrapped around his head and Jasper was there with a wooden leg replacing his broken one. Alice was Tinkerbell like in Peter Pan and Emmett was Captain Hook. There was no Rosalie of course, because Captain Hook never had a girlfriend. Besides, this was my dream, and I didn't have unpleasant people in it.

Edward looked at me like he wanted to ravish me. I looked down and I had the body of Keira Knightly and a dress showing off cleavage I knew I didn't have in real life. I looked at Edward again and actually felt beautiful enough to stand next to him.

He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled my lips roughly to his and old romantic violin music played in the background as our mouths molded together in the most perfect way.

Then the dream changed. I was Juliet and Edward was Romeo. I was standing in my balcony next to my room looking down at the beautiful boy in tights confessing his love to me. Then I grew six feet of hair and climbed down into his arms and he kissed me as if there were no tomorrow.

Yeah, weird. And all of the dreams were like that. So I'm sure he must have heard quite a bit from me. How long did he stay anyway? How much did he hear? How did I not wake up? Another thought ran though my head. Oh my God. I shuddered.

What if he removed my covers and tried to see me naked? I was horrified for only about five seconds, though. Edward wouldn't do that. He wasn't like that. I felt stupid for even thinking that.

I couldn't believe he did something like that for me. It was wrong to hope, but in doing this, he made me feel special, something no guy had ever done for me before. Maybe he really did have feelings for me. I decided I needed to check if my front door was locked. I ran downstairs.

Charlie must have come back this morning because his gun was sitting on the counter with his chief jacket. I also noticed his fishing tack box was missing from its usual spot next to the door. Fishing with Billy. Figures. The only time that man was home was when a game was on.

I realized when I moved here that Charlie was still in love with my mother. He caught her in bed with Phil when I was about two and she told him she loved Phil and she was sorry that he had to find out that way. He said that he was willing to forgive her if she cut things off with Phil and things would get better, but she refused his offer. I remember her telling me our lives would be happier for us once we moved to Phoenix with the sun and the heat. And so I was raised by Renee and Phil.

I passed all the old pictures of Renee, Charlie, and I and went to the door, which was locked. I opened it and looked under the flower pot and saw that my key was there with a note addressed to me.

Bella,

Silly girl, you should hide your key in a better place. I worry.

Be safe,

Edward

I clutched the note to my chest, the giddiness returning. Taking Edward's words to heart, I decided to actually put the key in the plant, hidden in the soil. I had to put it somewhere outside because I never remembered to put it in my pocket when I left to go places.

I went back to my room and debated on when I should call Edward. I picked up my phone and was about to search through my contacts for his number when I saw that I had a text message from Alice.

You will be kissed today by a person who thinks you're perfect and today will be your best day if you send to ten friends including me!

I rolled my eyes. Stupid scam text messages.

I hurried through my contacts and found Edward's number before I lost my courage. My heart worked double time and my stomach made loops as I hit SEND.

****************************************************

Edward's POV (You know you like it!)

I woke up to my ring tone. Groggily, I turned over in my bed and dug for my phone in my pocket. I saw the number and I was sleepy no longer. She called! I flipped open the crappy piece of technology quickly.

"Hello?" I had to pretend that I didn't know her number, otherwise I would have screamed her name in my happiness.

"Hi, Edward, it's me, Bella," her beautiful voice rang out of my phone.

"Hi Bella, I'm glad that you found my number in your phone," I said.

"Yeah well, that's not all I found," I couldn't tell from her tone if she was happy or mad at me. I started to fear that this would be our last conversation, but then realized that she probably wouldn't have called at all if I had scared her away. I didn't say anything.

"A thousand roses exactly. I'm impressed. How many times did you count them?" she asked, teasing.

"Three times, actually," I replied.

"Oh, really? That's the same amount of times I counted, too!" she said, laughing, "you little sneak." I laughed, too.

"Are you angry with me?" I asked.

"Oh I'm fuming. You wait till I get my hands on you!" she said.

"I am absolutely terrified," I said. Ahhh, my kitten-tiger was back.

"You should be. You have never witnessed the wrath of Bella Swan," she said, her tinkling laugh melding with mine, making music, "Hahahaha, I'm kidding, Edward, actually I'm flattered. But a thousand roses?"

"Well, I wanted a million, but that would have taken too long to count," I replied, "I was pressed for time."

She gasped, "A million! How the hell did you even manage it with you arm?"

"I have my ways," I said. I wanted to see her again. Now. "Hey, Bella, would you like to spend the day with me? My parents are out of town, and we would have the pool to ourselves." I hated that I currently lived with Carlisle and Esme, but it was only until I found a place of my own. I hadn't had time since I came back from the war.

"Uh, sure. Just let me clear my work schedule for today and I'll be right over," she said. I doubted that she knew where I lived.

"How about I pick you up? It's kind of hard to find our house," I explained.

"Okay, yeah, that works," she said. I could hear her excitement through the phone.

"I'll pick you up in an hour," I said, "and then you can show me firsthand the wrath of Bella Swan."

She giggled, "Bye, Edward."

"Bye Bella."

**********************

Back to Bella's POV

I couldn't believe it. I was going to spend the whole day with Edward. I dressed in my only bathing suit, hoping that we wouldn't go swimming so that Edward wouldn't see my white, non-supermodel body in a plain one-piece bathing suit, but then reveled in the fact that I would see him half naked. Oooooh, I bet he had abs like Hercules, too.

Edward called me when he was close to my house. When he pulled his shiny Volvo into my driveway, I grabbed my key and headed out. I had put a short and a tee shirt on top of my bathing suit, figuring that we wouldn't be swimming forever.

As usual, Edward looked like a god with his khaki shorts and tight tee. I smiled at him and he graced me with his crooked little grin. I flashed my key at him and we were off.

"Not too fast now," I warned. He chuckled. Then I remembered what I had for him.

"I have something for you," I pulled one of the many white roses that he had given me out of my purse and handed it to him. He burst out laughing and took it from me.

"But Bella, if I take this, that means you only have nine hundred ninety nine left," he said.

"It's okay. My room still smells good," I said.

The drive to Edward's house continued in that same fashion. When we finally pulled into a drive with trees, I unbuckled my seatbelt, thinking we were almost there, but we didn't pull up to his house until another seven minutes later.

His house was enormous. One whole side of the house was completely made of glass and the rest of the house was white. It was a three story and completely breathtaking.

"Your house is beautiful," I said, looking up in awe.

"Thank you," Edward said, helping me out on my side, "would you like a tour? Or would you rather swim first?" I looked at him again. Scrumptious.

"Hmmm, swim, I think," I said. He laughed. Oh. He caught me staring.

"C'mon," he led me to the enormous pool with lion heads spewing water out of their mouths. Edward led me to a bench near the pool and removed his shirt and shorts. I didn't even attempt to stop staring. It was useless. He had a freaking six pack and the muscles in his arms were now bare to me. I wanted to run my fingers on his perfect skin to see how hard it was.

Edward waited patiently as I eye-raped him. I finally looked to his face and he looked me up and down expectantly.

Blushing, I took off my shirt and shorts and walked to the water, dipping my foot in to check the temperature.

"Bella. You can't cheat like that. You have to jump in right away," he said.

Hmpf. I'll show him I'm no coward. Time to be spontaneous. I rolled my eyes and walked to the diving bored. I walked to the middle but abruptly stopped.

I can't swim.

I saw something behind me and jumped. It was Edward. I backed away to the end of the board and stopped again. He had been exactly behind me and I never even heard him move. The sneak.

"How do you do that?!" I shrieked. Edward walked closer to me so that we were both at the edge of the board. I was about to fall in but Edward steadied me.

"Do what?" he whispered. His minty breath hit my face and my head swam.

"Pop out of nowhere," I mumbled. He chuckled again.

"What's wrong? You look scared," he said. His fingers rose to my cheek and he caressed it softly.

Spontaneous, Bella! Be spontaneous! My mind said.

I repeated his words from the night before, "No, I'm not scared of anything," I said, courage raging through my body.

Spontaneous.

I leaned my face to his slowly, making sure he wanted this, too. He leaned the rest of the way and pressed his lips to mine gently.

My dreams were nothing compared to this.

Alice really did know everything.

End Notes: So did you like it? I've been trying to start my new story. I just can't think of a good enough title. Ugh!


	7. Chapter 7: Splash

Chapter Seven: Splash

This is more of a continuation of Chapter Six. I'm sorry that I haven't written sooner, it's just that some of my favorite stories have been updated and I can't stop reading them. Plus, school is almost over and then I'll never be off of here! Yay!

And I wanted to clarify some things about my story. The characters are slightly OOC because I want Edward to be less angsty and more fun, and I want Bella to be a little more accepting, but I think I got most of their quirks in. Have fun. Review. Please?

Previously from Chapter Six…

I repeated his words from the night before, "No, I'm not scared of anything," I said, courage raging through my body.

_Spontaneous._

I leaned my face to his slowly, making sure he wanted this, too. He leaned the rest of the way and pressed his lips to mine gently.

My dreams were nothing compared to this.

Alice really did know everything.

I couldn't get enough of him. His taste, his smell, his _lips_ were all my mind registered. Here we were, standing at the edge of a diving board, sucking face. My reaction was certainly not something either of us had expected. My hands slid up his chest and his neck and my fingers gripped into his soft bronze hair and I held on as if for dear life.

I leaned into his body more and his good arm went around my waist and he pulled me to him. We were chest to chest and both half-naked and I could feel his eager heart against mine again.

_I could get used to this._

Edward moved a bit and we broke apart, both of us were breathing heavily. My sudden spontaneity vanished, and I became too shy to look at him. I looked down at our feet, hiding my blush. I could still feel his gaze on me, though. He lifted his good arm and took my chin into his fingers, bringing my face up so that I would look at him.

Finally, my eyes met his and I was stunned by the fiery intensity of his gaze. He looked…hungry.

"Bella…" he started after about a minute, "I've wanted to do that since that day in the hospital. It feels like it was so long ago." I simply stared at him, lost for words. What he said was true; it felt more like a whole month had passed instead of just five days. I looked down again and noticed that his hurt arm was no longer in a sling. It was just in a cast now. I looked up at him again, my confidence coming back slowly. I smiled shyly. We were still just about an inch apart. 

Edward leaned to me again as if to kiss me. When his lips met mine for the second time, the instant zinging electricity ran through my body like it had before. Edward kept leaning his body into mine, and before I knew what had happened, we were both in the pool with a giant splash.

"Edward! I can't swim!" I yelled, desperately trying to wipe my eyes and doggy-paddle at the same time. I must have looked like a drowning cat. I was finally relieved when I felt Edward's arm encircle my waist, holding me up.

"Bella, the pool's only five feet deep," he said, laughing.

"Oh," I said lamely, setting my feet down on the ground of the pool. I looked at his covered arm again.

"Does that hurt at all?" I asked pointing at it. Edward followed my gaze and shrugged.

"Not really. It just itches a lot. Carlisle won't let me take it off yet, though," he said, "I still have another five weeks, but I highly doubt I'm going to last that long. I'm about to just rip it off it's so aggravating." I noticed how he said "Carlisle" instead of "Dad."

Edward's arm around my waist tightened, and he started to glide us through the water slowly. This moment was so romantic. I wished I had floating candles and that it was dark outside, but it really didn't matter. A half-naked Edward equals perfect no matter what, where, or when.

And God, he was perfect. And wet…did I mention that? The tiny droplets of water cascaded down his chest, over his muscles, and then returned back to the pool. I had a sudden wish to be a drop of water.

_Look at me, getting jealous over water droplets. Easy, Bella._

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked me suddenly, pulling me out of my fantasy.

_Oh nothing, just eye-raping you again._

"Um…I was thinking about…uh…you," I mumbled. _And your hot body, and your sexy voice and that cocky little smirk you give me when you know I'm embarrassed._

What? It was true.

Thank God he can't read minds.

Edward asked me more questions about my life and my childhood. I answered all of his questions, thinking he would get bored with me soon, but that time never came. He always seemed interested, like I was his favorite subject. I was never one to like much attention, but with Edward it was different. I wanted him to think I was special.

The subject of old boyfriends came up and I groaned internally.

"I've never had a real boyfriend," I answered his question easily, trying to be cool about it, but my blush of betrayal hit my face like wildfire. If Edward was asking about old boyfriends, didn't that mean something? My stomach did a flip as Edward looked at me with astonished eyes.

"What do you mean, you've never had a real boyfriend?" he asked incredulously.

"I mean just what I said. I mean, yeah, sure, I've been on dates, but I never went out with the same person more than twice. No one ever sparked my interest," I said.

"So you never found anyone you liked?" he asked, his eyes wide.

I blushed more.

"Not in Phoenix," I said. His face softened and he smirked. A smug smirk.

_Yeah, that's right buddy, you're the only one._

I noticed the sun was starting to go down, and as much as I wanted to stay, I knew Charlie would be home soon, and I couldn't let my father starve.

"You have to leave," Edward said sullenly, reading my face. I nodded solemnly. I looked at his enormous house again.

"I'll give you a tour of the house another time….if you'd like," Edward said, helping me out of the pool. I smiled at him; he wanted to keep me around.

We dried ourselves off and headed to his car. I started asking questions to him about his childhood, but the subject seemed to make him uneasy. He didn't answer my questions fully, so I stopped talking about it. I was a little mad, however. How come he got to know everything about me, but he couldn't show me the same respect?

We pulled into my driveway shortly with Edward's manic driving. I wanted to still be ticked off at him, but it just wasn't possible. I was already over it. God, he had me wrapped around his perfect finger like a vine. I couldn't remember being such a pushover.

I didn't want him to leave. He didn't want me to leave. Charlie would be back soon. I ran my options through my head.

"Would you like to come inside? And with my permission now?" I said as I got out of the Volvo, hoping and dreading each possible answer. Edward raised his eyebrows.

"My intentions are strictly honorable, I assure you," I said. Edward laughed.

"Really? I was under the impression that you wanted to rape me in the pool," he said with that crooked smile plastered on his face.

_Dammit. Think of a good comeback._

"How could I not want to? But, of course, what I think and do are completely different things," I snapped. _Take that, Hercules._

"Should your father know I'm here?" he asked.

"Ummm…." I debated.

"Well, that's okay then. I guess another time…" he said as he reached over and closed my door. Within two seconds he and his car were gone from my house.

What the hell?

Stupid, shiny Volvo owner. 

I was so mad that I stomped into my house and slammed the door, making sure not to put my key under the pot this time. I walked to my room and started throwing all the flowers into a box and put them in my closet. I went downstairs and started to cook stuffed mushrooms for Charlie and myself.

When Charlie finally got home about twenty minutes later, he noticed something was wrong with me when I slammed his plate in front of him and ran to my room.

I wanted to cry. But I knew my tears would do no good. I took a hot shower and by ten I was in bed and tried desperately to fall asleep.

No such luck.

Around twelve, when I started to finally doze off, I heard a tap on my window. I figured it was just the tree branch hitting it, but the rhythm of the tapping was too even to be a tree.

Tap

Tap 

Tap

Aggravated, I got up from my bed and fought my window open to see what was keeping me awake.

Edward.

Edward perched in the tree next to my window, holding little pebbles in his cast hand and throwing them with his other. I pinched myself to make sure this wasn't a dream. It hurt, so this was definitely real.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I whisper-shouted, hoping he could hear me.

"Is this a better time?" he whisper-shouted back. My jaw dropped.

"My intentions are strictly honorable, I assure you," he said. I had to laugh at that.

"How the hell did you get up there?" I asked.

"Oh, right. Well, see, I was raised by apes and…" he replied.

"Never mind, just get in here," I said. He walked the rest of the branch so gracefully you would have thought he really was raised by apes.

Then it struck me.

Edward Cullen was in my room. He was here and I was conscious. The human Adonis was here with me while my father slept in the next room.

"Where is your car?" I asked.

"At Emmett's. He doesn't live far from here. I parked it there and ran back. I hope you're not angry with me," he said. He was so adorable with that pout.

"No, of course not," I said, my anger, once again, evaporated.

He walked over to my bed, sat down, and looked over at me. He looked dead tired, still managing to look like a model.

Life is so unfair.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" he asked, patting the bed next to him. Butterflies erupted in my stomach again. Did he really mean what I thought he meant? He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

"I can't sleep with you here!" I whispered. He frowned.

"Do you want me to leave?" he said sadly.

"NO!" I nearly screamed. We were quiet for a few seconds to make sure Charlie hadn't woken up. I laid next to him cautiously. How in the world was I supposed to sleep with this god next to me? I yawned involuntarily and pulled the covers over myself. I couldn't believe this was happening. Today I had kissed the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen, and now I was going to fall asleep next to him. I looked at him again, the familiar feeling spreading throughout my body. Did I love him?

When does someone start loving someone else? Is there a specific timer for that? I had never been in love. I had no idea. Maybe it was just like the whole first kiss thing. There's no specific time for it; you just dive in when you feel the time is right.

I had fallen in love with Edward Cullen, the sexiest man in the universe. Great. What do I do now? Tell him?

No. 

That would be crazy. He couldn't feel the same way that I did. He would think I was insane for admitting I was in love with him after only five days of knowing him, wouldn't he? This was bad. He would reject me and I would be devastated. I pushed it to the back of my mind for the time being. He was here with me now and that was what mattered.

I saw his hand come up out of my peripheral vision and touch my cheek. His fingers started to trace my jaw and his eyes were dazzling me. I smiled and said, "Behave."

I turned and pulled the covers over my chest. I felt Edward move closer to me and felt him nuzzle my hair.

"Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" he asked sweetly.

"I'll think about it," I said, giggling.

"Please, Bella? I won't be able to sleep without the taste of your lips on mine," he said. I laughed quietly.

"You are so corny," I said and turned around.

"You are so beautiful. I can't help it," he replied. I giggled again. He puckered up and leaned toward me like a little boy. I took hold of his beautiful face and kissed him, over and over again until I was out of breath.

"There. Now you should be able to sleep," I said. He smiled and I fell asleep staring at the one person who had ever captured my heart.

A/N: Whoah that was a long chapter for me! It was pure fluff, I know. The next two or three chapters are going to be a lot like this one, it's kind of boring for me but I have to build up their relationship…I can't wait to get to the climax!!! It took me a while to pick between one ending or the other…And I think I've come up with a good title for my next story. How does Perfect Enemy sound? I got it from a song. Next chapter will be EPOV so review please and I'll try to hurry!


	8. Chapter 8: Family Affairs

I want to thank all my reviewers, especially those who review every chapter. You make me feel sooo special. Right, so I still haven't quite gotten to the climax, that will more than likely be toward Chapter ten or eleven. That is going to be my favorite chapter to write. Anyway, this is Edward's POV. I hope you like it.

Chapter 8: Family Affairs

Edward's POV

Today had been the best day of my life. The kiss, seeing Bella in a bathing suit, watching her fall asleep next to me. The last event of the day, falling asleep myself, was the hardest. I wasn't going to deny it.

I'm a man. And Bella is an incredibly beautiful, sexy woman. An incredibly beautiful and sexy woman who happened to be laying right beside me with her dark, long hair splayed out across the pillows making her look like an absolute goddess. Of course, I would never do anything inappropriate, but I was seriously thinking about waking her up to kiss her like no tomorrow, and then my hormones might calm down.

"Mmmmmm," Bella moaned in her sleep. I sighed.

"You're not helping, you know that?" I said to her sleeping figure. I took a curly strand of her soft hair and twirled it in my fingers lovingly.

"Edward," my angel mumbled. I smiled. I had been waiting for her to say my name almost all night. She must have been having a good dream because her face lit up. Then the best part of my night, and probably of my life so far, took place.

"Edward….I love you," came from her luscious lips. I gasped. I looked over her, hoping to find her awake, but her eyes were still closed and she was still breathing heavily.

A feeling of happiness rushed over me. She was dreaming of me again, and she told my dream self that she loved me. Did that mean she loved me when she was awake, too? Did she love me as I loved her? Had she done this before? Had she ever gone to bed with a man? She said that she never had a real boyfriend, but did that mean that she had given herself away to someone she just dated? I shuddered at that. Thinking of another man attempting to make love to my Bella broke my heart. I was in deep. I sincerely hoped she was, too. I sounded like a woman but it was true. I couldn't imagine life without her now. She turned my life upside-down. Some of the little things she did had me so engrossed with her that I couldn't think straight. The way she walked, her cute Southern accent, and that _blush._

"I love you, too, Bella," I whispered. I laid a kiss on her forehead. Maybe she could hear me in her dream.

"Cat-poo," she mumbled and turned over. I laughed and wondered what could possibly be going through her head.

I listened to Bella talk until I finally joined her slumber.

***********************

At about five in the morning, I woke up to the sound of Bella's father, Chief Swan, moving around in his room. Bella was still sound asleep with a little smile on her face, so I moved carefully around her to hide in her closet without waking her up. Bella was an adult, but finding his daughter in bed next to a complete stranger wouldn't be the best way to meet her new boyfriend.

Thinking of her father sent new thoughts through my mind. Had she told him about me yet? Did she consider me special enough to share with her family? Did she want Charlie to like me? I wanted him to like me. I wanted him to trust me and to know that I would take care of his daughter.

I had not told my mother and father about Bella. I wanted to, but I knew that if things went badly - like Bella denying me - I wouldn't want them to know because my whole family would make a big deal about my sorrow and try to comfort me all the time. I got that enough from just getting back from the war. Esme cried and cried when I returned home and waited on me hand and foot. I didn't really like all the attention. It bothered me. I just wanted to be left alone. My experience wasn't traumatic like most soldiers. I had only been in Afghanistan about seven months when I got hurt, and my position wasn't exactly a high ranking, so I wasn't scarred for life. Well, of course, I did see some bad stuff. I witnessed people dying, I had undeniably killed people. Sometimes I felt monstrous for murdering people who had done nothing to me, but I rectified it with the fact that they would kill me if they got the chance. I was helping Jasper run after he'd broken his leg from the impact of the bomb when I was shot. I had not felt the pain in that moment because of the adrenaline, but I did almost feel fear. And I never felt fear. I told Bella that I wasn't afraid of anything. I thought we were going to die. I was practically dragging Jasper and I saw the bullet hit the skin of my arm, I saw the blood, I remember praying that they didn't try shooting again. That bullet had come close to me head. I wish I had saved it. I almost died that day. Just thinking of it made me scared, and I was thankful that I was away from the war, mostly because of Bella. If I had never been shot, I would never have met Bella.

_See, you are afraid of one thing, _a voice in my head mentioned. _You're afraid of losing Bella._

This was true. I never wanted to lose Bella. She…made me happy for once.

God I'm starting to sound like a woman.

When Charlie left, instead of climbing back into the bed with Bella, I sat in the rocking chair next to her bed and fell back asleep. I was awoken again by Bella's voice calling my name about four hours later.

She was still in her bed looking at me with a crazy gleam in her eyes.

"Good morning, Sunshine," I said happily.

"Edward?" she said in disbelief. Did she assume that I would not stay with her? I raised my eyebrows and held my arms out to her. She jumped up at once and jumped into my lap playfully, a giant smile making appearance on her face.

"Did you think I wouldn't stay?" I asked.

"No, actually I…thought everything that had happened yesterday was a dream. I'm so happy you're still here," she said. "Where's Charlie?" she continued with a worried look.

"He left early this morning," I said.

"Did he see you?"

"No. I know it's rather childish, but I hid in your closet." She giggled.

"Have you told him about your new boyfriend?" I asked. As soon as I said it, I mentally kicked myself. Did she think of me as her boyfriend? I wanted so very much to be able to call her my girlfriend. She would be definitely more than just my girlfriend, but that was the closest title I could think of.

Bella shifted in my lap. This was bad. I had pushed her too far.

"Well, I haven't told anyone. Mostly because you're the only person I've really talked to in the past couple days. And boyfriend?" she gave a nervous laugh.

"I'm sorry Bella, I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean to--"

"I figure you're much more than just my boyfriend," she cut me off. My eyes widened at her statement. Perhaps the things she said in her sleep were true.

"Well, then, what am I?" I inquired. She looked up at the ceiling, apparently deep in thought. She stayed like that for thirty seconds and then looked at me again, her big, brown eyes full of emotion.

Taking a deep breath, finally she said, "Destiny."

***********

I left Bella's an hour later because she had to work and even though I wanted her to skip another day, I didn't try to persuade her. She drove me to Emmett's and we said goodbye with a sweet kiss, promising to see each other after she got off at six. I grabbed my car and headed home.

I saw Alice's car in the driveway and sincerely hoped she didn't tell my parents where I had been all night. I wanted them to meet Bella soon, but I didn't want them to get the wrong idea about me spending the night with her already. Carlisle and Esme asked me about where I had been, and I lied and said that I had been at Emmett's, throwing a warning look at Alice to make sure she didn't contradict me in front of them.

As soon as I got to my room, I heard my sister's little footsteps on the stairs. She walked in my room, closed my door, and started on me with a gigantic smile on her small pixie face.

"Well?" she said.

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to thank me?"

"For what?"

"For getting Bella to you, of course."

I wanted to add that I found Bella myself, and that I would have found a way to find her again without Alice's help, but she seemed so happy that I couldn't let her down. "Thanks, Alice. I really appreciated your help," I said. She squealed.

"Tell me everything! And I know you were lying to Mom and Dad because I called Emmett last night and he said you took off. Did you go to her house? Oh my God, Edward, did you sleep with her? If you did, I'll kill you! You know hurrying into things makes relationships harder. No, I take that back. You're a virgin and you wouldn't have done that. Have you at least kissed her, though? You need to bring her over here! Mom and Dad will love her! I hope she likes Dooney and Burke. I can't wait to take her shopping. She would look gorgeous in that Juicy dress I saw yesterday…" I waited for my sister to finish her rant. When I kept quiet, she jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"Oh no, Edward, I'm so sorry. I thought that you two were definitely gonna hit it off. I shouldn't have said those things. I'm _so _sorry," she said.

"Alice, calm down. Everything between Bella and me went perfect," I set her straight. Her ear-to-ear smile came back.

"So…what did you do? Do you really like her? You think she's into you? Or did the roses scare her?" Alice asked.

"No, she liked the roses. I wanted to thank you again for helping me with that. I have no idea how you managed that at one in the morning. Well…yesterday while all of you were gone, I brought her here and we swam in the pool, and then I brought her home and surprised her later that night and we just fell asleep next to one another. And today she had to work so I left and we agreed we'd see each other when she gets off at six," I explained. Alice raised her eyebrows, waiting for me to continue. I didn't want to elaborate on my time with Bella. It was special and private. But Alice was the only person I could talk to since I had trust issues. She was always there for me.

"What?" I asked because she was still looking at me expectantly.

"Did. You. Kiss?" she whispered. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Alice, I'm twenty-one, not twelve." She squealed again.

"Where at? Come on, I want details!"

"Alice, I'm not one of your gossiping girlfriends!"

"Oh, come on, kiss and tell damn it!"

"Fine. On the diving board." Another squeal.

"How was it? Tongue or no tongue. Hair pulling? Did you get to second base? Because that's still too soon, I don't care how old you are. And on the diving board! Wow that must have been so cute. I wish you had a picture or something." I groaned at my annoying, overexcited sister.

"Speaking of rushing into things, what was with you and Jasper Friday night?" I turned the conversation, instantly curious. Jasper was my boy, but if he hurt my sister, I'd hurt him. Alice blushed and turned to leave my room.

"Hey! You can't do that! I tell you everything and you don't share anything with me? Not that I really want to know about you and Jasper's sudden 'friendship,' but I would like to be assured that he didn't do anything to you," I said, my voice full of concern.

"No, Edward. Jasper's a really great guy, and I really like him. I guess we found each other's soul mates and brought each other together," Alice said with a little smile.

Alice's words made me think back to what Bella has said earlier about my being her destiny. I smiled back at my little sister and said, "Yeah, small world."

All day I was too excited to stay still. Finally, around five, I took to pacing. What would Bella and I do today? Maybe we could eat at a fancy restaurant and catch a movie, but something told me that Bella wouldn't want that. Maybe she could meet my family, and then I could show her around my enormous home. I was still embarrassed about living with my parents, but getting a place of my own was first on the agenda. I sincerely hoped Esme and Carlisle didn't embarrass me, either. I decided to call Bella to see if she would want to come over.

I expected to get her voicemail but she picked up whispering, "hello.?"

"Bella, hey I'm sorry, I was expecting to get your voicemail."

"Oh…well I snuck away to answer your call. Mike is driving me insane!"

"Mike, as in…Fair Mike?"

"What?"

"Mike, the guy we ran from at the fair…"

"Oh yeah, I told you I work with him." she whispered. If he was bugging her, or worse, flirting with her, I would tear him limb from limb. I tried not to sound hostile when I spoke again.

"I wanted to ask you something. Would you like to come to my house? We never really made plans of where to go, and I was hoping you might want to meet my family," I said after a few seconds of calming down and trying to act less bipolar.

_Please say yes, please say yes_

"Uh, sure. I would love to, Edward." Gah! I loved when she said my name.

"Great! Esme made this weenie spaghetti that's just to die for…and she put the really thin noodles with just the right amout of sauce…You're gonna love it. It's like having an orgasm in your mouth," I said. Bella laughed. I worshipped Esme's cooking. The woman was the goddess of food. I hoped Bella could cook. I suddenly had a vision of myself walking into a nice house, our house, and saw Bella standing near the stove with the smell of delicious food emanating from it. I walked up to her and wrapped my arms around her while our beautiful little toddler made a mess in his booster seat. My heart sang at this hopeful future.

"Okay, Edward, I get the picture," cute laugh, "I'll go over. Do you think they'll like me?" she finished nervously.

"Bella, that's a silly question. Of course they'll like you. Just don't stab anyone and you'll be fine."

"With my luck I'll probably trip and send a knife flying."

"\Well, as long as it's not me, we're good."

"Edward!"

"Oooh, say it again," I loved playing this game with her.

"Edward, I'm being serious!"

"C'mon, baby, just one more time."

Bella groaned. "Okay……..Edward."

"Okay, just one more time."

"I'm hanging up now! I'll see you in a few minutes. I'm leaving now."

"Noooo, Bella please, just one more time!"

"Goodbye, Edward." _Click_

I grinned like a little boy who just got caught looking at the hot half-naked neighbor and pressed END on my cell at the same time I heard the doorbell ring. Bella couldn't possibly be here already. Had she gotten off early and played a trick on me over the phone, pretending to still be at work? I ran downstairs.

In the middle of the stairs, I stopped dead, about to turn around and head back to my room but she caught me.

_Tanya._

No! Tanya could not be here, not when Bella was about to arrive! The last attempt I had made to get away from her had been painful and unsuccessful, hence my broken arm. Maybe I could get her to leave.

"Edward! It's so nice to see you again!" the fake strawberry-blonde ran up to me and tried to kiss my cheeks. I mumbled something back. I pushed her back gently, avoiding her rock hard five thousand dollar boobs and tried to settle for a hug. She held me in a death grip. I pushed away and walked toward Alice, hoping my diabolical sister had a plan of getting this Jenna Jameson wannabe out of our house.

Rosalie and Tanya had been friends forever. Tanya's parents and our parents were close, and Tanya had introduced Rose and Emmett to each other. Rose came into our family soon enough and treated us all like her own siblings. Tanya always showed a preference for me, and Rose always tried hooking us up so that they would both have Cullen boys. I never liked Tanya, though, not even as a friend. I acted civil towards her, for everyone's sake. It looked like Bella and I would have to endure her tonight. Hope struck me. If she saw that I was happy with Bella, maybe she would finally leave me alone.

_But what if she tries to start something with Bella?_ Well, I could take no chances of that. My plans of Bella meeting my family went out the window with that possibility. We would go to the movies then. I picked up my phone to call my Bella again.

I had her number memorized by now. I was proud of myself. I had never taken the time to memorize a woman's number. I was about to press SEND when the doorbell rang again. Shit.

Esme walked to the door to greet whoever was there. I tried to get there first, but Alice beat us both, opening the door to reveal a tired but beautiful Bella. She smiled at Alice, then at me, and then looked towards everyone else. I walked toward her to take her hand. Her gaze turned to Tanya. Tanya looked at our intertwined hands with a look of complete horror. Rosalie snorted in disgust. I looked toward Esme and Carlisle; their faces held surprise at our affectionate gesture. Carlisle saw Bella very often, and it had been him that told Bella to come to my hospital room. He gave me a little knowing smile, and Esme's face turned to extreme happiness, figuring out what was going on. She was always Alice completely beamed.

I removed my hand from hers to wrap my arm around her shoulders.

"Mom, Dad, this is Bella."

Whoa that was a long chapter. The orgasm in the mouth thing is something my boyfriend always says. I just had to add it lol

Review please!


	9. Chapter 9: Truth

Chapter 12: Truth

Bella POV

Now I know that jealousy and distrust aren't exactly very good features in a girlfriend, but any other girl in my shoes would have had the same emotions seeing this overly-tanned-almost-orange-trying-to-be-Barbie-but-failing-horribly girl. I knew her from the moment I saw her. This must be Tanya, the reason for Edward's broken arm.

It made me so happy to know that he had run away from this girl. Honestly, she looked a bit like a dinosaur. Her face was stretched like she would have had major plastic surgery and her skin looked a bit wrinkly from tanning so much. She had huge fake boobs that looked like they were screaming for escape. I bet she stabbed anyone she tried to hug. Those things looked like rocks. I looked at Edward, making sure he had no holes in his shirt. I was happy when I saw he didn't. It looked like Dino Barbie didn't get a hold of him after all. He looked back at me with a nervous smile.

I wanted to ravish him. He had changed since this morning and now he had on a long-sleeved white shirt and he rolled up the sleeves halfway so that his muscles showed everywhere I looked. Again, he had dark jeans on. And that hair…it was so messy, like I _would _have ravished him. His smile grew wider at my scrutinizing him, the left corner of his mouth reaching up without the other one so that only a few teeth showed. That crooked smile could get anyone. I wasn't surprised Dino Barbie was looking at me with a death glare. Sorry, sweetie, he's mine.

See…possessive, too. I'm a horrible girlfriend.

After reflecting Tanya's silent curse on me and peeling my eyes away from Edward, I suddenly remembered something. Oh, Edward's parents. They must have thought I was crazy. I had been in their house for almost two minutes daydreaming without even acknowledging them. I quickly extended my hand. Edward's mother was the first to approach me. She was beautiful with reddish brown hair that was slightly lighter than my own. She had kind hazel eyes and a huge smile plastered on her face that created the cutest motherly dimples I had ever seen.

"Hello, Bella, it's nice to meet you. You can call me Esme," she said. I nodded as I shook her hand, noticing that she looked a bit confused. Had Edward told his parents that I was coming? He must not have. I was a little saddened by that thought but remembered that I never did tell Charlie about my godlike boyfriend.

"Hi Bella, it's nice to see you outside of work," Carlisle said, looking a little sly with his eyebrow cocked. It was his fault we had met in the first place, after all. I laughed at his comment nervously. Looking around, I saw the blonde girl that I had seen at the fair, the one that was mean to me, Rosalie. She, too, looked at me with disdain. Did any of them like me? The big, burly guy, Emmett, was there, too. He smiled at me.

Then there was Alice, who was positively glowing. I felt a little awkward. Finally, Esme spoke up and said that dinner would be ready shortly and Edward asked me to let him give me a tour of the house. I agreed, thankful to get away from Dino Barbie. I saw Edward give a look at Alice and then they both looked at Tanya. I knew the look on Alice's face. It was the same one she had when she drug me the fair to meet Edward again.

We went up the stairs where I presumed Edward's room was. It was a little weird that Edward still lived with his parents, but it was kind of cute, too. I knew he probably had plans to move out soon and get his own place now that he was back from war, and he had not been back long. After all, I still lived with Charlie, so I couldn't really criticize.

"This is Alice's room, but she's rarely ever home, so it's miraculously clean," Edward said, pointing into the first room. It was purple and fluffy, and it seemed like Alice from what I knew of her. We walked on, passing the hall bathroom and Edward's parent's room. We got to the last door on the end of the hall, and Edward turned to me with worry in his gorgeous eyes.

"What, is this yours?" I asked sweetly, "Please don't tell me it's full of naked girl pictures and smells like pot." He laughed.

"No, no naked girls, I promise. And I have no reason to do drugs, especially in my parents' house," he said, but he still didn't move out of the way for me to peek.

"Well, what then? You have a dead body under your bed or something?" I asked, exasperated. I tried going around him. He blocked my every move. Dammit.

"Well, I've never really had a girl in my room before," he leaned in and whispered.

I wanted to say I'd never been in a boy's room before, but it would have been a lie. How could this godly, magnificent creature never have had a girl in his room growing up? Did he just resist dating in high school? How could that be? With looks like his, I would have thought he had several women. Bimbo Tanya was proof of that. Maybe he was just special or something…waiting for the right person…even when he could have a million if he so chose.

"My room hasn't really changed since I was in middle school. It's kind of embarrassing," he said, his good hand moving to his hair.

I made him nervous. That made me happy.

"Edward, I won't laugh. I promise. Even if I find an old teddy bear that you sleep with every night." Okay, I might laugh at that.

Reluctantly, he pushed open his door to reveal a massive red and gold bed with a gigantic stereo in the far corner. There was a mini bookcase next to the stereo. Other than that, it was plain. It looked like no one had been in it in ages. There was nothing on the floor, no posters on the walls. It was spotless.

"OCD, are we?" I asked, wandering to the stereo.

"No, actually that's my mom. She's a neat freak, one of the horrible things about still living with my parents. I still never get any privacy, and my room is always boring," Edward answered me. Well, Esme was surely nothing like Renee. My mother would rather call a maid than clean one dish herself.

"No TV?"

"No. Alice took it when I left for war because it was bigger than hers, and I never got it back."

I walked around his huge bed, resisting the urge to jump on it. I saw something that interested me on his bedside table. I picked it up and waved it at him questioningly.

Edward grimaced and walked to me, taking the army helmet from my trembling hands. I'd never really thought about it.

Edward had killed people. He had walked on Afghanistan soil and risked his life for his country at only the age of 21. That helmet had been on his head through all that mess and chaos that was war. He'd been shot and almost killed. He took lives and probably suffered a lot. I couldn't imagine my Edward wearing this helmet in a camouflage outfit, running for his life, bleeding, suffering. He always seemed so happy, I couldn't vision him doing those things. A surge of respect and awe ran through my body as I looked at him observing his helmet with a deep frown. He was lost in thought, no doubt imagining horrible memories.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. He looked up at me, broken out of his trance.

"Don't be," he said.

"Was it hard?"

"To take people's lives, yes. I didn't know them. They never did anything to me personally. I had to keep telling myself that if they got the chance, they would kill me without hesitating. It didn't really make it easier, but it stopped me from worrying in the moment. I remember the first time I killed someone I wanted to cry. Jasper had been there much longer than me, and when he told me to shoot, I just thought 'what the hell am I doing here.' I didn't even see the guys face, I just remember him going down as soon as I pulled the trigger."

I sat on the bed, taking Edward's hand. He sat beside me. I wondered if it was hard for him to tell me these things. I didn't want to pry, but I was very curious.

"What made you decide to do it?" I whispered. He looked confused.

"What, kill all those people?" he said. I flinched when he said "kill."

"No, I meant what made you decide to go to war?" I said after a second. He sighed. Crap, I pushed him too hard. He had every right to be angry with me for prying.

"I never told you Esme and Carlisle adopted me, did I?" he said. I gasped and shook my head. Edward was adopted? Well, that explained why he didn't look like his "parents." It also explained why he didn't refer to Carlisle as "Dad."

"My biological father's name was Edward Masen. My mom's was Elizabeth. My father was a lieutenant colonel, and he loved his job. He always told me that I needed to be part of the army just like him. He said that was the only way to become a man. I never really got along with him. I always wanted to be a doctor, but he said that medical school was for women. When I was six I told him I wanted to save lives and he just put me down and said that doctors don't get recognized like army officials do," Edward said. I couldn't believe someone could be so mean to him. It tore my heart to know how he had been treated. I motioned for him to continue; there was obviously more.

"My mom kept me sane. She always told me not to listen to what my father said and to do what I thought was right with my life. She was diagnosed with cancer when I was ten and died when I was eleven," Edward continued. I gasped again, almost in tears. What had he been through? How could he possibly be happy today after all that hurt and loss? Edward smiled grimly at my expression and carried on.

"I tried living with my dad for another year-or well, he tried living with me- after my mother died. It got worse and worse every day. We fought all the time about how I was worthless and unappreciative. Finally, he gave up on me and sent me to live with foster parents. I lived in a little house with a nice couple for about three months until Carlisle and Esme decided to adopt me. I was twelve when I moved in here, and I've been here ever since."

I looked at Edward with tears in my eyes.

"So that's why you went to war? After all that?"

"No. I never really wanted to go to war. I guess I was just hoping to see Edward Sr. again. He's a general officer now, really high up in ranking. I'm sure he's living his dream. Sometimes I think I was hoping that I could see him just to see what became of the man who was once my father."

"So you never saw him again?"

"No. I don't know what I would do if I did see him again. I might go crazy," he finished with a little chuckle. He sighed.

"I was in a lower ranking. I was only there for six months and I was young, so I never did get to see dear old Dad. I'm thankful for that now, though. I'm thankful that I got shot." _What? Is he insane?_

"What? Why?" I almost shouted incredulously. Edward laughed quietly.

"It brought me to you."

I would have thought his sappiness and corniness would have been stupid if we hadn't just had a heart-to-heart discussion.

"I spent my whole life focused on showing my dad that I could prove him wrong about me. I never really dated much and I never went out much. You, you're like a breath of fresh air. I've never felt this way about anyone…and I don't want to feel this way about anyone _but _you. Ever," Edward finished. Was he trying to say he was in love with me? Hell, this was loads better than just saying "I love you." Anyone can say those little three words without them really meaning anything, but no one could say what Edward just did. He was saying he loved me, but he was doing it in his own way…a better way. It meant more.

Well, it was time for me to gather some more courage. He deserved something in return.

I put my fingers on his lips, tracing the light pink outline of them. He smiled beneath my fingers and kissed them. I grabbed his hand and put it over my heart, putting my forehead to his.

"I love you, Edward."

There. I said it. I felt a little stupid saying that right after he made a whole speech about how he felt about me, but I knew I couldn't compete with him, and this way he knew how I felt. He smiled wider and kissed me softly. We stayed like that, happily making out for almost ten minutes.

I loved Edward's lips. They were so soft and plump and welcoming. I would gladly kiss him all day if I could, but sadly I am human and I need to breathe every now and then. He loved when I fisted my hands in his hair and pulled gently, practically gluing my face to his.

It couldn't last forever, though. Esme soon called up to tell us that dinner was ready, and I left Edward's room pouting.

Dino Barbie was gone, Alice kept talking to me about clothing, Rosalie threw me dirty looks, and Emmett nearly fell on the floor laughing when I tripped over my own shoelace on my way to the sink. It was nice; I'd never had that family experience when everyone gathers around the table and shares their day events.

It seemed to me that Esme and Carlisle liked me. Carlisle liked me already, having worked with me, so it was Esme I was trying to win over. She asked me questions about school and my dad. It was hard to really pay attention to everyone, though, because Edward was right next to me with his arm around my waist and his leg touching mine. The electricity between us sparked even when we weren't touching, so how was I supposed to answer Esme's questions? It took a lot of concentration.

And I mean a lot.

"So, Bella, how are you liking Forks?" Esme asked me.

"Um, it's nice. It's just a little wet." Kind of like Edward. He's _really _nice when he's wet. Thoughts of our pool excursion drifted to my mind.

"It's colder than Phoenix, too," I added. _But Edward can warm me up anytime._

Dear God, I am horribly obsessed.

The night finally ended and Edward kissed me on the porch when I left.

****

Edward's POV

I watched Bella leave, hoping I could sneak to her house later with no one noticing. Sure, I was an adult and I could do what I wanted, but that didn't mean I didn't have to put up with everyone's ragging on me.

I walked inside, not quite ready to face the wrath of Esme, Alice, and Emmett. As soon as I came in view of them, Esme smiled knowingly.

"What?" I said, knowing what she was thinking.

"My baby boy's in love!" she squealed, running up to me and throwing her arms around me.

"Mom…"

"Oh, honey, I'm so happy for you. She's beautiful! How long have you kept her from us?"

"Mom, is this really necessary?"

"So that's where you went last night!" Emmett boomed. Dammit. Esme looked at me with wide eyes. I looked to Alice for help. Alice was looking at the floor.

"Thanks, Emmett. Thanks a lot," I said. He just laughed.

"I don't think she's all that pretty if you ask me," Rosalie said with a sneer.

"Yeah, well that's why no one asked you," I retorted. She just wanted me to be with Wannabe Barbie. Rosalie scoffed and flipped her hair.

Esme wasn't looking at me anymore. She was looking at the floor. Time to come clean. Did everyone here think I was the type of guy to into a girl's pants after just a few days? I mean, maybe I was messed up, but I still wasn't _that _guy.

"Mom, I shouldn't have to tell you this, but I don't want you thinking I'm some man-whore," I said. She looked up at me again.

I continued, "I slept at Bella's last night, but I didn't do anything. You should know me better than that. _You _raised me better than that." I felt stupid saying all this because really it was none of her business but every time one of us does something even remotely bad, she gets all sad and thinks she failed as a mother, so assuring her was just needed. Esme looked happier after that.

"I'm so happy for you, Edward. She seems so smart and she _is _beautiful. And the way you look at her…It's about time you find someone special, Dear."

"Thanks," I said, heading to my room. I grabbed Alice.

"How the hell did you manage to get Tanya out?" I asked her as soon as we were on the stairs. She giggled and shrugged.

"I told her Brad Pitt was signing autographs at the Seattle Center," Alice said. We both erupted into fits of laughter.

A/N: Hoped you liked it! We are getting close to the good part!


	10. Chapter 10: What Happens Next?

A/N: So I think I'm going to change the rating. There's reasons for this, but honestly, there are some things that are going to be getting a little more mature. I promised no lemons, and I'm going to stick to that of course, but since the climax is nearing, things are going to start getting a little ugly. Like not horrible, but ugly. I'll think about it and try not to have to change it, but I really think it is needed. So here is chapter ten, and I hope everyone enjoys it, because I know I did. J

Edward POV

Chapter Ten: What Happens Next?

My next few weeks with Bella were amazing. I went to her house, she came to mine. The days that I could not spend with her were complete agony. My parents loved her and eventually she let me talk her into introducing me to her father.

It had been a long day for her, and I learned that I usually got what I wanted on days like this when I rubbed her back and sweet-talked her as she fell asleep. Begging and overusing the magic word always worked well, too, though those were barely needed.

Just like I could not refuse her anything, she could not say no to me.

I snuck to her house as I had done so many nights since I met her. It became the usual, and was no big deal anymore. Truthfully, being twenty-one with a nineteen-year-old girlfriend did not require sneaking around these days, but Bella was still scared of what her father would think of her if he found a man he had never met in bed with his daughter.

So I followed her wishes because I am whipped and having her mad at me just wasn't going to happen. But really, this was getting a little ridiculous. I needed a place of my own. The idea of living with Bella made me smile. I could wake up with her instead of having to hide in her closet until her dad left. She could make us breakfast in a little flowery apron and I could go back to school and get a decent job. She could stay home and watch our five kids and be happy. Of course Bella wouldn't want that, though. I knew my sweet Bella, and I knew she would never want to be a stay at home mom and never work a day in her life even if she could. It would probably drive her crazy. The thought was still nice. I knew my Bella more than she knew herself sometimes, and I knew that she wouldn't like being married with children until it already happened. She didn't like change, and that was fine with me…for now. Eventually I would ask her to live with me. And eventually she would have to tell her father about me.

The window was open, as usual, and I climbed the familiar tree to her room. The lights were off--it was around eleven, thirty minutes after Charlie's bedtime. It was a little weird knowing that someone was sleeping in the same house as you but never having met the person properly.

Bella was in the shower. I could hear the water and wished that I could be in there with her to see her fully and appreciate the image. It was still too early in our relationship, and I would never even think about acting on my fantasies, but the idea was still appealing. I was so happy to find out that Bella had not shared her beautiful body with anyone, and I was hoping that someday we could experience the ultimate passion and get married and run away into the wilderness and live happily ever after.

I never told her this in fear that she would question my sanity after only four weeks together.

I sat on her bed quietly. The roses that I had gotten for her were gone. Bella and Alice had become very close, just as Alice said they would. The two of them took the flowers before they could rot and gave one to everyone in town. Alice said she felt like Lorelai and Rory from the Gilmore Girls, whatever that meant.

Bella came out of her room in only a towel, blushing at the sight of me sitting on her bed. I had seen her in only a bathing suit already, but still, Bella was self-conscious. She looked amazing. Her beautiful smell of freesias was magnified tenfold from the heat and she had water dripping down her neck and collarbone into her towel. I wanted to follow the droplets with my fingers and feel her soft creamy skin.

"I'm sorry…I didn't realize what time it was. Let me just…grab something," she said, blushing furiously and rushing toward her drawers. She grabbed pajamas and a purple underwear, blushing more than ever.

"Purple?" I teased her. She threw me a look and raced back to the bathroom. Most of the time when I came to her room, she was already in bed. Sometimes, though, she came in a little late, and I was rewarded with seeing her in her cute little blue nurse outfit that was too big for her and hung off her shoulders a little, showing just enough of her pretty collarbone. She always looked exhausted, especially when she had to work at Newton's for the night. Tonight it had been Newton's, and I knew it had been a long day.

She came back in her room with a huge smile and I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her perfect lips and then her forehead, lifting her and laying her on the bed.

"I missed you today," I said, tracing her arm and grinning when I saw the goosebumps that had erupted there from my touch.

"You miss me every day," she said, bringing her fingers to my hair and making it more messy. I loved it when she did that.

"I do. That could be because you have class and two jobs, and I have none." I didn't need a job right now, plus I couldn't do anything with my arm. But thankfully, the cast could come off in one more week. I was seriously debating just ripping it off already. I had tried once, but Esme caught me and told Carlisle. The scissor was out of my hand in about thirty seconds, and I was still trying to figure out where they had hid them from me.

"Edward, we've talked about this. I'm not quitting my jobs. I love you and I love spending time with you, but I need to pay for college." I loved her stubbornness sometimes…she made the cutest face.

"Bella, you don't need two jobs. Just quit one, then, if it makes you happy to work. How about you quit at Newton's…then Mike could leave you alone and I wouldn't have the urge to rip his head off every time you come home looking angry," I said. I finally met the stupid boy and wasn't pleased with him. He stared at Bella the whole time and I could practically read his thoughts…and they weren't pleasant.

Bella just laughed. "He's harmless. A little freaky, but nothing to worry about."

I sighed. Time to convince her of the other thing. Her eyes started to droop, fighting sleep. I started to rub circles in her back.

"Mmmm. You want something," she stated.

"Yes, I do."

"Is it still about work?"

"No. I'm not going to argue with you."

"Good. What is it about then?" she asked smiling with her eyes still closed.

"I want to meet your father." Her eyes popped open in shock. "What?" I asked.

"Charlie has a gun, you know."

"I've been shot before, _you know_," I said, wiggling my cast from hell. "And I doubt your dad would shoot me. I think he would like me," I continued, puffing out my chest in pride. She giggled.

"Okay, Mister I'm Not Scared of Anything. What makes you so sure of yourself?"

"Well, I've never been arrested. I had great grades in school. I was on the basketball team. I am what most fathers wish for their daughters. And I'm irrevocably in love with you. Once your father sees how much you love me and how happy I could make you, he'll be begging you to marry me." I didn't want to sound like a pompous ass, but she had to know.

"Uh-huh, Buddy, you're on your own."

"Please, Bella, I want to meet him." I was being cruel now, pushing out my bottom lip and batting my eyelashes. I would have felt so gay if it wasn't for the fact that it always worked.

She knew she was fighting a losing battle. She sighed in defeat and tried to change the subject by mashing her mouth to mine.

"Fine. Tomorrow. And I think you should wear your army outfit and your helmet…You're going to need it." I smiled in triumph.

"Bella, you don't really think your father will shoot me, do you?" I asked, admittedly a little nervous. I hoped she was joking about the suit; even if I would wear it, it wasn't exactly bulletproof.

"No. I just want to see how sexy you look in camouflage."

****

The next day went on without a problem. I was not shot, though I swear Charlie was thinking about it. He seemed indifferent to me. It wasn't that he didn't care, I just thought he'd rather not know. What was the saying? _What he doesn't know can't hurt him_. That was Charlie Swan. I could see where Bella got her eyes and her curly hair from. He asked me a few things about the war, and I answered as best I could until Bella made something up about going somewhere and started pulling me out the door.

We got in my car and headed to my house, no real plans in particular. I was just happy that Bella was finally off for a day. I noticed that she stopped complaining about my fast driving and when I asked her about it, she said that she just got used to it. It was one of the things that I loved about her. She just accepted things about me, like nothing really bothered her.

When we got home, I led Bella inside and let everyone hug and talk about their day, just like we did almost every day. However, I noticed Carlisle was looking a little nervous. He kept throwing me glances and looking away when I caught him staring. After a while, I got frustrated. Something was wrong, and he was going to tell me what the hell was going on. I walked up to him and stood next to him side by side so that I could whisper in his ear.

"What's wrong?" I asked, hoping Bella and my mom wouldn't hear. He looked up at me, worry in his eyes.

"I'll tell you later…when Bella leaves should be a better time," he said, his eyes averting mine again.

"Carlisle, just tell me what's wrong now. Please. Is it bad?" I asked.

"It's not technically _bad. _I just don't know what it could possibly mean. It was so confusing," he whispered back. It was apparent that he had not told Esme, otherwise she would seem worried, too.

"Carlisle, Edward, what's wrong?" Esme asked. Crap. She noticed our conversation, breaking off her talk with Bella. I looked at my father, expecting him to explain, since I didn't know what was going on either. He looked back at me and ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"Well, it's not exactly bad, but I doubt that it's good. When I got home earlier, you were at the store, Esme, and I checked our house phone for voicemails," Carlisle said nervously. I raised my eyebrows at him, beckoning him to continue. He sighed and continued. "There was a man that called about you, Edward. He said he was from the military and that he wanted you to call him back."

His words played in my head over and over. What could they possibly want? Was something wrong?

"Was that all he said?" I asked.

"Yes. He said his phone number and I wrote it down."

"You deleted the message?" I wanted to hear this person's voice to see if I would recognize it. Maybe I was just overreacting. It was probably one of the guys from my group who came home and called to check on me.

"Yes, I got rid of it. But you can call him later," Carlisle said.

I looked at Bella. Now was really not the time for me to call. It was probably no big deal, but the fact that it could be was eating at me. She looked concerned. Maybe I could call and make sure now so that she wouldn't have to worry. I didn't like the fear in her eyes.

"I think I should call him now," I said. Carlisle sighed again and handed me the phone and a piece of paper with the number on it. The number was local, so I figured it couldn't be bad. I sat on the couch and Bella sat next to me while Esme sat on my other side. My mother looked scared, too. Carlisle just stayed standing. I dialed the number.

On the third ring a man finally picked up.

"Hello?" he said. I did not recognize his voice. It was deep and unfamiliar.

"Yes, this is Edward Cullen. I received a call from you earlier and the voicemail said to call back," I said cautiously. The man laughed on the other end. It was friendly and I relaxed by a fraction.

"Ah, yes, Edward. My name is Laurent and I was trying to get a hold of you for my friend James. You know, James Hurley? He said you worked for him in the force," the man said. Oh. _Admiral _James Hurley. Of course I knew him. I was under his command the whole time I was there.

"Yes, I remember him. Why is he tying to get a hold of me?" I tried to say it patiently and without anger, but I failed. I did not want to remember any of that. _Admiral_ Hurley was certainly not my friend. Why would he want to get in touch with me? He was a dick. I didn't really expect him to treat me with kindness but he certainly seemed to hate everyone who was in a lower ranking than him.

"Well, he's in town and he's back for a month, and he wanted to have a little get-together with everyone he worked with. So I'm calling everyone who is also back and your name is on the list," Laurent said.

"Wait…he's having a party?" I asked. Why the hell would he have a party for us? He hated us all and it was his fault Jasper nearly had his leg blown off.

"Well, yes. If you'd like to RSVP, I'll tell you when and where. He just wants to see how everyone is doing," Laurent said. So that's it? He wanted to have a little "get together." Well, I certainly wasn't going. The man made my life hell for months. In no way shape or form did I want to visit that cocky bastard. I just wanted to get over everything I did and live a happy life with my Bella.

"You're allowed to bring a friend," Laurent added.

"What is it, Edward?" Esme put a hand on my shoulder, concerned at my blank expression.

"Can you hold on a second?" I told Laurent. He agreed and I told them about the party that my officer was throwing and that I was allowed to bring someone. They all relaxed and I looked at Bella. I did not really want to go, but I would have liked to show her off to the men that I had worked with. Besides, she might like to go.

"Do you want to go, Bella. I'll take you if you want," I said to her. Her face lit up and she nodded. I guess we would go then. With a half-smile-half-grimace at her I turned back to the phone.

"Laurent? I'll go. Just tell me when and where," I said. He was delighted that I decided to go and gave me directions. It was a week from now and it was at the Seattle Center. We hung up and I turned to Bella.

"Are you sure you want to go?" I asked her. I was still having second thoughts but I knew that it would be fine as long as she was with me.

"Yeah, I want to meet all the guys you worked with. It should be fun, right?" she said.

"Yeah, but the man who is throwing the thing isn't someone I ever wanted to see again. We should just stay away from him. I think it will be nice to know how everyone's doing, though. I hope no one I know has died since I left," I said with a frown. Bella shrugged, not really having an answer.

"I need to call Jasper…see if they got a hold of him," I said, pulling out my cell phone. He was with Alice today. She dragged him shopping and he agreed. That showed how much he liked her. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hey, Edward," he said.

"Hey, Jasper. My sister annoying you yet?" I asked. There was a 'hmpf' in the background that I recognized to be Alice and he chuckled.

"Nah, I'm okay. I'm just glad that my leg is in a cast, otherwise she would have made me try on everything from here to China by now," he said. I laughed.

"Listen, Jasper, I got a call from this guy named Laurent. He said that he was friends with Admiral James Hurley, the guy who worked with us and that he was throwing a party. Did they call you yet?"

"Yeah, they called me yesterday. I told them that I would think about it and call them later with an answer. I don't really want to go, but if you go, I'll go. I guess it would be nice to see the guys again. I'm just scared that Alice will bring me on another shopping spree just for the party," he said. I heard Alice scream "WHAT!" in the background.

"I told him I would go. I want to bring Bella. You gonna bring Alice?" I asked.

"Sure. It'll be fine. We're done with all that."

"Okay, man. Talk to you later," I said.

"Bye." I hung up and looked at my parents and Bella. Bella smiled at me, making all my worries disappear.

After Bella left I finally persuaded Carlisle to take my cast off. He wanted to wait until tomorrow so that he could get the right scissors for it but I channeled my inner teenager and threw a fit until I got my way. It felt soooooo nice. Once the air hit my bare arm I felt free and kept doing things with it that I couldn't do before. I had a scar from the bullet wound in the middle of my forearm that looked badass. Esme almost cried when she saw it and I kept telling her it didn't hurt and my laughing just made her cry more until I left to park my car in Emmett's drive, as usual, to get to Bella's.

Bella's eyes widened when she saw that I had no cast and kissed my scar after I assured her it didn't hurt. I ran my fingers through her wet hair.

"I love you," I whispered.

"Love you more," she said.

"No, you don't." I argued. She cocked an eyebrow. I loved it when she did that.

"Wanna bet?" she fired back. I laughed. Sometimes I truly wondered if she felt the same way as me. I knew there was no way she could possibly love me more than I loved her, but I still wanted to know what was the extent of her love. I needed to know.

"Can I ask you something, Love?" I asked. She nodded. I hesitated, afraid of her answer. I really needed to know, though.

"Do you ever think about us? Like you and me having a possible future?" I asked, unable to meet her eyes, fearing what I would see in them. She hesitated, too. What did that mean? Did she not ever consider being with me for years to come? It was all I ever thought about. We had been together for over a month and a half, but I knew that she was the girl that I wanted to spend my life with. I always thought that once you met the person you were going to fall in love with, you just knew…like there was a light that went off in your head or a sign that told you this was it. I had that sign the first day I saw her. She was my destiny. I finally looked back at her. She was deep in thought. I did not want her to say that she didn't want me forever. It sounded pathetic, but I knew if those words left her mouth, it would surely break me.

"Actually I think about it a lot, Edward. Sometimes I think about it too much and I'm scared," she finally said. What was she afraid of? Commitment? I furrowed my eyebrows, wanting her to explain more.

"I don't like to hope for things. I know that if I hope for something, what I want won't happen…just because I wanted it. I want you forever. So I try not to hope for it."

_Wait. Whaaaaaaaat?_

I thought over her explanation over and over again until I finally understood.

_She wanted me forever! _Just like I wanted her. But she thought it wasn't going to happen.

"Bella, I want everything with you. My whole future. You don't have anything to worry about," I said, trying to assure her. I didn't want her to worry about anything that had to do with us. If she wanted to be with me forever, then that's what she was going to get. She smiled sweetly and let me hold her as we fell asleep.

Next week we would be faced with my past, and I hoped that none of it scared her away.

A/N: This chapter was supposed to be longer, but it got too long and I had to transfer some of it to the next chapter. Wooo so I'm so sick of writing fluff, but it was necessary in this chapter…can anyone say foreshadowing? Any ideas on what's going to happen next chapter? It's the party…and we're going to meet James!! Anyway, please review. I spent all night doing this and if you read it and like it, make me happy please please please!


	11. Chapter 11: The Party

A/N: I don't own Twilight.

I'm sorry this is short, but I wanted this particular part separate from the rest. I'm having a little trouble with Chapter Twelve. It's not that I have block, really, it's just that I know what I want to write but I don't know how I want to put it. And I can't overanalyze it because then I'll just mess it up. Ugh.

I FIXED THIS CHAPTER UP…I accidentally put chapter 12 the first time around. Lol.

Chapter Eleven: The Party

Bella POV

"Are you sure you want to go?" Edward asked me for the billionth time today. All week he had been asking me if I really fancied going to this party. I was starting to think that he didn't want to go, and by my saying I didn't want to attend, he would whisk me away to do something better.

"Edward, for the last time, yes, I _want_ to go. Are you sure that _you _want to go? Because it sure doesn't seem like it!" I said, exasperated. He smiled at my little outburst.

"I want to do whatever you want to do, Bella," Edward said sweetly, acting like he hadn't been bugging me all day.

"Okay, then. Get in the car," I ordered. We had been outside for over five minutes arguing first about who would drive, then about whether we should even go at all. I spent a huge amount of time on my hair, which was something I never did, and if it got messed up out here, I was going to shoot him myself. I didn't know why he wouldn't want to go.

What could happen? It was just a party, it's not like anything could go wrong.

Edward got into the driver's seat and I got into the passenger's quickly because if we didn't leave now, we would be late. We still had to pick up Alice and Jasper at Jasper's house. Edward turned to me.

"Are you positive-"

"Edward! _Shut up and drive damn it!_" I cut him off.

"Okay okay, just checking," he laughed. I rolled me eyes and smiled and we were off. "You look stunning, by the way," he added, gesturing to my blue strapless knee-length dress. I even wore heels.

We picked up Alice and Jasper on the way. I had not seen them together since the fateful fair and I was glad to see how happy they looked together. Jasper still had his leg in a cast and Alice helped him into the car. She was wearing a long silver dress that had a neckline down to her waist. She looked like some sort of pixie-angel.

Once we neared the Seattle Center, I grew nervous. I didn't know any of these people. What if I tripped in these heels? I debated just taking them off--I had packed some flip-flops just in case; I started to remove them, but as my had met the buckle on the strap, Alice noticed.

"Bella Swan, I swear, if you take those heels off I am going to whack you with them," she said. Crap.

When we finally arrived at the party, Edward parked the Volvo and helped me out carefully. He looked mostly calm, but I could detect a little nervousness under the mask.

He looked so hot in his suit. He had on a blue button down shirt to match my dress and black slacks with a black tie. His hair was its bronze, beautiful mess, as usual.

Unable to contain myself, I pulled him to me by his tie until his lips met mine. Wanting more of his honey taste, I wrapped my arms around his neck and tangled my fingers in his hair, messing it up even more. He chuckled in my mouth at my impatience and pulled away.

"I thought you said you didn't want to be late," he said. I snorted.

"Shut up and kiss me," I demanded, smashing his face back to mine and practically eating it. Our tongues continued to tango until Jasper cleared his throat. I reluctantly disengaged my mouth from Edward's with a loud _plop, _remembering we had an audience. I grew impossibly red and embarrassed, but Edward just laughed and kissed me one more time.

"Sorry," I muttered to my feet. Edward grabbed my hand and led us in through the double doors. There was soft elevator music playing and about one hundred people took up the room. It was a circular room with a stage in the front. There were decorations everywhere and tables covered with white cloth. There was food on the tables and one of them had one big punch bowl with pictures surrounding it. Everyone was dressed formally, and I even saw a few kids here and there. In the middles were more tables, but they had chairs with name cards on the tables.

We walked farther in and a man at a podium asked for our names to make sure we had been invited. Jasper told the man, who I noticed had a name tag with the name "Laurent" written on it. Then we walked to the table that had our name written on it and put our things down. Jasper and Edward looked around at some of the men, recognizing a few.

"Look, there's Dannon! Let's go see how he's doing, Edward," Jasper said, pointing to a tall man towards the back. Edward looked at me.

"Will you and Alice be okay here?" he asked. I nodded. I wanted him to see his friends from the war. It was one of the reasons I wanted us to come. I knew he would regret it if he wouldn't have come.

"We'll be fine, Edward. We'll just go get some punch or something," Alice said. She and Jasper shared a quick kiss and so did Edward and I. Then our boys were off. I was bored instantly without him. Alice noticed, and she must have felt the same way because she pulled me toward the food.

I looked over at Edward across the room. He and Jasper were laughing with the man called Dannon. I was glad he was having a good time. He didn't really talk about the war after our conversation in his bedroom and I knew doing this would probably help him. Alice and I headed to the punch bowl and started looking at the pictures. It was mostly of guys in camouflage just smiling at the camera. There were a few of a man standing in a blue suit covered in metals receiving an award from another older man on a stage. Then I saw a picture of Edward's smiling face. He was dirty…and unbelievably hot. He and Jasper had an arm around each other's shoulders, facing the camera. I picked up the photo and showed Alice, who squealed, and looked closer.

Edward had on a white cut off tank shirt and his right cheek was covered in dried mud. Jasper's right cheek and forehead had the same markings but he still had on his camouflage. I stared a little longer before putting it down. Then I picked up the picture of the man receiving the award.

"Like what you see?" a voice said in my ear.

I turned around so quickly I almost dropped the picture I was holding. A tall man stood before me, not three inches away. His closeness creeped me out and I tried to back away but my butt met the table.

"That's me, you know," he said. His breath smelt like alcohol. I looked up at him. He had blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. I would have been attracted to him if he wasn't so in-my-face. He wasn't as good-looking as Edward, but he had a certain charm. Well, he did until he started speaking.

"James Hurley," he said, extending his hand. He never even looked at Alice. I shook his hand while glancing at her. She looked a little peeved. So this was the man that Edward had talked about. _Admiral _James Hurley. Edward's commander.

"Um, Bella Swan," I said, trying to be polite. Edward had explained to me how much of an ass James had been. But this was his party, and I didn't want to get us kicked out for telling him to back the fuck off.

"It's nice to meet you Bella Swan," he continued, leaning even closer to me. I tried to escape his gaze--and his breath--and failed. He put a hand on my shoulder and started talking to me.

"This is my party," he said, "Who did you come here with?" I looked over at Alice again, who shrugged her shoulders and started searching for Edward and Jasper. I turned back to James and decided to answer him. It was none of his business who I had come here with, but did I really have a reason not to answer him?

"Edward Cullen. Do you remember him?" I asked. James grinned.

"Do you plan on leaving with him?…Or would you rather…take a ride with me?" he asked, ignoring my question. He leaned even further.

"Excuse me?" I said, now growing a little angry. I was starting to not care whether we got kicked out. I looked for Alice again, but she was gone.

"I'm a very rich man, did you know that Bella? I'm also very powerful. I always get my way," he said seductively, trailing a long finger down my chest to my cleavage. I gasped and slapped his hand away. He just smirked more.

"Bella," I heard Edward say. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw him standing a foot away from me. I struggled out of James' little cage and moved to him. I looked up at Edward's face, afraid of what I might see there. He was looking at James with a death glare. James laughed.

"Edward. It's so nice to see you again," James said, looking Edward up and down and then to my hands clutching his arm. "I see you've healed," he continued with his eyebrows raised.

"James," Edward said, acknowledging him but nothing else.

"I was just talking to your lovely date how I wanted a word with you," James said, looking at me. I furrowed my eyebrows and scoffed in disbelief. Edward looked down at me. I couldn't read his expression. He looked into my eyes and then looked behind me. I followed his gaze because it seemed like he was trying to convey something to me. Jasper and Alice were behind me. Edward looked back at me and then back at them. I understood what he wanted. He wanted me to follow them and leave him here. I was not going to listen. I had a bad feeling about this man, and I sure as hell was not going to leave Edward alone with him.

"Bella, go with Alice. I'll be back shortly," he said after realizing that I was not going to listen to him. I stayed rooted to my spot. He raised his eyebrows, silently begging me to comply. When I didn't, Alice took my arm and pulled me away. I didn't fight it, but my heart was beating quickly with fear. Edward took one last look at me as I followed Alice and Jasper and then he turned to James. The last thing I saw was James leading Edward somewhere that I couldn't see them. I looked at Jasper and Alice. The expressions mirrored my own: fear.

Edward POV

Once James and I were out of earshot and in a place where Bella could not see our discussion, he turned to me with a smile. The bitch had something up his sleeve. And I wanted to yank it out before he could ruin my happiness.

"Well, Edward, Bella sure is a nice catch, I must say," he said. I crossed my arms.

_And you will never know how good of a catch she is,_ I thought. When Alice found me and Jasper talking to Dannon and she was without Bella, I knew something was wrong. I looked to where she had pointed and saw Bella looking angry and scared, leaning away from James. He was hovering over her and when I saw him touch her, I wanted to explode. I got there as quickly as I could.

"You wanted to talk to me about something, James? I doubt it was about Bella," I said through clenched teeth. He smirked again. I wanted to rip his mouth off and then knock his teeth out, but if the war taught me one thing, it was how to control my rage.

"Actually it has a lot to do with Bella," he said, "Where did you find that sweet piece of-"

"James," I interrupted. I would get in so much trouble for hitting an army official. But that was starting not to matter much.

"Who said you could call me James, Edward? I'm still your officer. You should address me as Admiral Hurley, as usual," he sneered. My mouth dropped in disbelief.

"I'm not part of your team anymore, _James_," I reminded him. He chuckled.

_Son of a bitch._

"Well, Edward, I don't see why you shouldn't be. Clearly you're healed," he said, gesturing to my arm. I looked down at my bullet wound.

I froze. The truth hit me like the bullet that hit my arm two months ago.

_No. This can't be happening._

_Anything but this._

He laughed as the realization hit me.

"I wonder what little Bella will do without her Edward…" he trailed off, smiling like the evil bastard that he was. No. He couldn't do this. Not to me. Not to _Bella._

_Bella._

_He wants Bella._

_That's why he's doing this._

My eyes snapped up to his.

"You won't get away with this. I served my time at war. I got sent home. You can't send me back," I said. But he could. James was very powerful. When he wanted something, he got it. There was nothing that ever stood in his way. And he wanted her. It was like I could read his mind, see the future playing in his head.

He would send me away. Send me to a place that I would never return. I would die in battle. And then Bella would be out of my grasp. She would be free. She would be free until James got her. And then she would be his. She would be his slave, like all the women he had taken. I remembered the story of his wife, Victoria. She tried to leave him and he murdered her in cold blood. But he got away with it. Because he was James Hurley.

Bella. My life, my love…being stabbed to death by this man like his wife. I wanted to throw up.

He could do it. He had the resources. He had the power. He could have me killed and have her…I didn't want to think about it. My face crumpled unwillingly and he laughed some more.

"I always get what I want, Edward," he said, walking away, leaving me falling to pieces. "Expect a letter in…oh I don't know…soon," he called back at me.

I gathered myself and walked away, back to my car where Bella, Jasper, and Alice were. They asked me what happened, but I just shook my head and started the car, silent the whole way home.

My brain was straining it's hardest to figure out something. _Anything._

Bella wrapped her hand around mine, and for once it did not comfort me. I looked at her beautiful face, hoping against hope that this was not one of the last times I would ever see her.

This could not be the beginning of the end.

A/N: Finally! Tell me what you think is going to happen next! Review like your life depends on it. Surprisingly, this chapter was a hard one to write, so tell me if you liked it, please. Also, I had a few questions about this on fanfiction: Yes, I know it is illegal to send someone back to war by force if they have already been sent home because of injury. I get all my army information from my boyfriend's brother who went to Iraq, and I'm not a genius. But this is _fiction_, and not _real._ In this story, James is above the law and can do whatever he wants. This would never happen in real life, so please don't fuss me.


	12. Chapter 12: Punk'd

**Supa long A/N: I hate complaining, but this has been one of the worst weeks of my life. I caught my dad having an affair and I am offing royally pissed. And the woman's a social worker…go figure. I actually had a dream that I was forced to meet her and she tried talking to me and I broke my plate on her head. And then I ran her over. With my Cadillac. Grr. My poor mom. I told her I would put her on match .com lol**

**So this chapter was hard to write. Obviously. I feel like Jasper right now, taking in all this depression and feeling even worse, which sucks because I'm normally a big happy ball of energy like Alice. Ugh. **

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Twilight. I do, however, have a bad temper. DON'T CHEAT! IT'S WRONG! Unless you want a violent five-foot-five nerdy girl breaking a plate on your head and running you over!**

**Anyway, I finally found out how to respond to reviews! I haven't even attempted to understand the forums though. I need to click on it and stop being such a chicken.**

**And YAY for diamond topaz, who was my one hundredth review, and thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed. I am sorry about the last chapter, but hey, I got more reviews on that one than any of my other chapters. Apparently people crave drama like me.**

Chapter Twelve: Punk's

Edward's POV

I kept hoping against hope that there was some way to get out of my predicament. Maybe James was too drunk to even remember what happened that night. That didn't seem likely, though. How long would it be before I was notified? Would someone just mail me? The letter may as well have been my death certificate…if there _was_ such a thing.

The worst part of it was that being around Bella was killing me. Being away from her was just as much agony. Every time we did something, a nagging voice in my head kept reminding me that we wouldn't be together much longer. Would it be a week, a month…tomorrow? What if James was just bluffing? It was illegal for him to force me to go back to war. When a soldier was sent back because of injury, he couldn't just be sent back when he got better. He could go back of his own accord, and I had absolutely no intentions of leaving again, especially if this time would cost me my life. How much power did James have anyway? I could fight this if he did try to send me. I could take this to court and get out of it hopefully.

But what if I couldn't? If James had the power, which I was positive that he did (the man got away with murder for Christ sake!), he would get Bella and I would be unable to stop him. If I tried to get out of it, would he do something to hurt her in revenge? He had a sick mind from what I had heard from the men in our unit, and now that sick mind was focused on my beloved Bella.

_Ashton Kutcher, you can come out now! Joke's over!_ I thought, truly hoping this wouldn't be really happening.

Bella…what could I do?

One option had been floating through my head since the party. I dreaded it, I hated it, but it seemed to be the smartest thing I could do now. Hanging my head in my hands and ruffling my fingers in my hair for the umpteenth time that day, I sat on my bed, considering how I would possibly survive this plan.

I would have to leave Bella. I would have to break up with her. I shuddered, fighting the stinging in my eyes that I had not experienced since the war. Breaking Bella's heart would kill me. Just thinking about it made me want to shoot myself. I tried playing the conversation in my head, imagining an outcome that would not end with Bella crying. God, Bella would cry because of _me._ I always told myself that I would _never _hurt her, and here I was hurting her to help her. I would have to hurt her to keep her safe.

I figured that if I told Bella that I didn't love her anymore, she would not want to stay here in Forks. I hoped that she would want to move back in with her mother to try to get away from the memories of me. She would be gone and not here for James to seek her out once I was gone. I would die but my life meant little to me as long as Bella was safe.

But every time I thought about what I would say to her, my face would drain of color and my heart would slow down, and I would have trouble breathing. My brain seemed like it was trying to push the thoughts out. How would I ever manage to force the words out, watching as my words broke her heart? I couldn't do it. It was the blackest kind of blasphemy, telling Bella I didn't love her, didn't want her.

Just a few weeks ago I had been thinking about buying a place together, starting our lives, and now it was all gone. Actually, _everything _would be gone. James' intention was for me to be _killed_. It was a strange feeling, knowing I was going to die soon. Images from _The Ring _flooded my thoughts. _You will die in seven days._ I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. I wasn't even afraid of the death I would experience; it didn't concern me. _All that mattered was her safety. _I kept repeating the mantra, hoping it would be the one thing that kept me from going crazy.

Would she fall for someone else? My Bella would not be _mine_ anymore. Her heart, her love, her future…they would not intertwine with mine. She would be free to love someone else. Another man would fill the spot that I wanted so desperately. Images of Bella getting married on a hill, then of her round with someone's child, a blinding smile lightening her beautiful heart shaped face. And I would be in a coffin, never to experience that happiness. My dreams of having a white fence and five kids running around the yard while I held Bella as she cooked spaghetti dissipated. I could only hope that she would have a normal, happy life without me. She deserved that.

I finally cried. I felt no shame in it, either. Shedding tears got me nowhere, but the reason for them was enough for anyone to succumb. I didn't pity myself; I had never deserved Bella. I wanted to blame someone other than myself, though, and Edward Sr. seemed to be a pretty good target right now. After all, he was the reason that I joined the army in the first place.

No, I couldn't think that way. It wasn't his fault; I had signed up…it was my choice--he had just talked me into believing that I was worthless unless I followed in his footsteps. I wished he could see me now, my whole future disappearing.

Would Bella be devastated by my death? A selfish part of me hoped she would, but I knew I shouldn't want that. I was supposed to hope that, by making her think I did not love her, she would move on more easily. If she believed that I didn't care for her, the knowledge of my death would not hurt so much.

I had even thought of proposing to her towards the middle of the summer. But there was no point in asking for her hand when I would just make her a widow. She had one week of school left before she would be let out for summer. I made so many plans for us once school was out of the way, and instead of my summer being filled with fun and joy as I expected, it was full of dread and hopelessness.

I checked my bedside clock. It said 2:15. I sighed, retreating from my room. Bella would get out of class in a few minutes. I decided I'd rather be with her right now than without her. She had to work at the hospital today, but since I would never get to see her again once that letter arrived, I may as well spend as much time with her as I possibly could. But spending time with her was hard because I knew that I would have to hurt her soon.

I could hear Emmett's booming laugh as I walked down the stairs towards the garage. He was flexing his muscles at our mother, trying to convince her that he was not using steroids and calling himself "pure man." I stopped midstride as an idea struck me. It was perfect! Sure, it was a little stupid, but if it worked the pain would be completely worth it. I turned to Emmett quickly before I changed my mind.

"Em, can you come with me outside?" I asked. Emmett, Carlisle, and Esme looked at me questioningly, probably wondering why I wanted to be alone with my brother. I mentally thanked the big man when I saw that Rosalie was absent.

"Um…sure?" he said like he was asking a question. He looked back at Carlisle and Esme for an explanation and they both shrugged at him. Then he followed me out to the garage, waiting for me to talk. I closed the door and made sure that no one could hear us. When I was positive that no one was listening, I held out my newly fixed arm to him, bending my elbow with my palm facing the ground. He looked confused.

Taking a deep breath and making my face extremely serious to show that I was not joking, I said, "Break my arm, Emmett."

He stared at me like I had two heads, not even looking at my arm. "What?"

"You heard me. Break my arm. I'm serious." I waved it a little, hoping he would just do it without asking questions.

"But…Edward, you're arm just healed. Why do you want to break it again?" he asked incredulously. It started to seem as if my plan wasn't going to work.

"Please, just do it, Emmett. Don't ask questions," I said through my teeth.

He gave me one last look of confusion before snapping out of it. "Uh, okay. Where do you want me to break it?" he asked slowly, his humongous hands hesitantly wrapping around my forearm, one on each side of my scar.

"Anywhere. It doesn't matter," I said impatiently but also surprised that he was agreeing to go along with it. He gripped my arm harder and I braced myself for the pain. I had never seen a man break another man's arm with just his hands, but if anyone could do it, Emmett could.

Emmett suddenly gasped and let go of me, turning away.

"I can't do it, man. I just can't hurt you like that," he said. I internally groaned. Maybe I could jump in front of a car or something. I should have known my spontaneous scheme wouldn't work. Emmett sure looked big and scary but he could never intentionally hurt anyone. He was a big teddy bear, and it was wrong of me to ask that of him.

"Why are you trying to hurt yourself?" he said, trying to meet my eyes, looking for a confession. I surely could not tell him what was going on. The only person who might be able to understand was Jasper. I sighed and averted my gaze.

"No reason, Em. I just…I don't know what I was thinking," I said, heading to my car quickly before he could question me more. I sat in the drivers seat of the Volvo, my nerves on fire and my brain about to explode. Before I could close my door, Emmett was there, putting a large hand on my shoulder and leaning over. I looked up at him, mad at myself for causing the look of sadness and confusion on his face.

"Edward, bruh, you know you can tell me anything, right? I mean-" he hesitated, "I may not your relation by blood…but I _am_ still your brother, and I'm here for you."

I was touched by his words. Emmett really could be a softy sometimes. I couldn't believe I asked him to hurt me. I should have known that he wouldn't go through with it. I should have just asked Jasper to take a baseball bat to my leg. I would need to remember that thought for later. I smiled a little to myself; a few weeks ago I was fighting to get that damn cast off and now I was desperately looking for ways to get it back on.

"Yeah, Emmett, I know." _A crazy man from the war wants me to go back and get killed so that he can have Bella! Hurt me so I don't have to go!_

Yeah, that would go over _real _well.

I sighed and he left, walking back into the house. I closed my door and took off, excited to see Bella and ignoring the voice of worry in my head. Or, at least, I was _trying _to avoid it.

I waited a few minutes outside next to Bella's truck. I saw her walking out of the building a few minutes later, talking to a girl named Angela that I knew from high school. Bella looked…sad? A frown was taking root on her face and she didn't really seem to be paying attention to what Angela was saying, but when she looked up and saw me leaning against my car, her face lit up with a smile that made my heart stop. I was elated with the fact that I could make her cheer up with just being here, but I also knew I was probably the reason she looked so down in the first place. I hadn't been ignoring her, per se, but I hadn't been my usual happy self either.

Bella said a quick goodbye to Angela and came running toward me. I smiled back at her, hoping it looked genuine instead of forced, the way it had been for a week now, and hugged her. When I let her go, she looked up at me quizzically. I shrugged at her and kissed her hard, hoping I could show her how much I loved her even though I would be saying goodbye soon. She was confused only for a second before deepening the kiss, probably craving what I had not given her since the party. With her lips on mine and her hands in my hair, tasting her and feeling her perfection, I nearly forgot my situation, wanting this moment to last forever. After a few seconds, however, I was brought back to Earth by people whistling and yelling for us to get a room. Reality hit me hard again as she untangled her fingers from my hair, and I wanted nothing more than to pick her up and move far away, change our names and keep her forever. I could be Bob and she could be Suzie. We could live in the mountains and raise goats for a living, it didn't matter as long as we were together. But, again, she didn't deserve that. As much as I wanted to hide her away from the world, I couldn't give in to my selfish wishes. I looked away and closed my eyes, wishing a meteor would just fall from the sky and cripple me. Anything for me not to go back _there…._away from _here._

When I opened my eyes, Bella was frowning again, looking at me with concerned eyes. Actually, she looked kind of pissed, but not in the cute kitten anger way that I had grown to love. Her face showed hurt and anger and it broke my heart even more.

"I was hoping that I could drive you to work today," I said, attempting my charade of happiness. I didn't fool her, of course. She was so perceptive, one of the many things I loved about her, but it wasn't exactly a good thing right now. She let it go, though, for now, her face going neutral again, and climbed into the passenger's side of my Volvo with no comment on my behavior.

"What about my truck?" she asked, trying to meet my gaze as I sat down. I didn't look back at her, afraid of the expression on my face.

"I'll have Alice drop it off," I said. From the corner of my eye, I saw her still looking at me, but being the coward that I was, I simply stared forward at the road, heading to the hospital.

"Will you come over tonight?" she asked quietly, looking away from me. She sounded so hurt, as if she were fighting tears. I felt horrible having made her feel less than special.

"Yes, I'll go over," I replied, trying to keep my eyes from wandering over to her. I knew that if I saw her crying, I would cave. Of course I would go over to her house tonight! She was like my drug; I couldn't be away from her for more than a few hours. I wouldn't even need to be killed in combat…just being without her would kill me. And I would never see her again! As if I would skip one night of having her company! She would never believe me when I told her it was over. She just _had_ to know the effect she had on me…she _had _to know how much I loved her. I knew it would take a lot of convincing to make her think I didn't want her. I shuddered, my mind trying to avoid the nasty topic again. It would be so hard and I knew that if she begged me not to leave her, I would not be able to go.

Bella sighed, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Edward, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong," I answered immediately. But I was like water-she saw right through me.

"Edward Cullen, I know you better than you know yourself. Do not lie to me and tell me there is nothing wrong because clearly there is. You've been like this since the party," she paused, "What happened there? Was it James? Did he do something to you?" Her voice grew worried. I gritted my teeth.

"No, Bella. Nothing is wrong. Please just drop it, okay? Please?" I looked at her fiercely, trying to ignore the tears pooling in her eyes. She simply glared at me. This was the closest we had ever come to a real fight. Normally I just gave her whatever she wanted, which was never hard because she always wanted what I wanted: just to be together.

"Fine," she huffed, looking away, but I knew this wouldn't be the end of it. Not even close.

***

Bella's POV

This was all my fault. I was the one who made Edward go to that stupid party. He was right, we should not have gone. We were only there for an hour and that was enough to cause disaster. After Jasper and Alice pulled me away from Edward and James, we headed to the car and waited for Edward to come back. The ten minutes we stood there felt like ages because I knew something was wrong with that James, and sure enough, when Edward finally came back, the look on his face showed he was distressed. We went to Jasper's house and hung out for a while, trying to make the best of the night. Edward barely said anything. He just stared at his hands and every few minutes I caught him looking at me with the strangest look in his beautiful face. Something was definitely wrong, and it was because of the party, because of James. Had he done something to Edward?

Edward didn't stay with me the night of the party. I had never felt so alone in all my life. _He just needs time, _I thought, _he'll get over it._

That was seven days ago and nothing has changed.

I had only a week left of school before summer break officially started. Just two weeks ago Edward and I had discussed our future together and now it seemed as if he didn't even want anything to do with me. He only spoke to me when I asked him something and if I said anything that didn't require an answer, he just nodded his head or looked at me blankly. I could not muster up the courage to ask him what was wrong, partly because I was scared of the answer and partly because I didn't want to push him. I figured he would just come to me with it when he was ready, but now it was really getting on my nerves.

I was surprised beyond words when he showed up in the parking lot to pick me up. His smile looked a little forced, but it was more than I had gotten lately. And when he kissed me all my worries evaporated and it was just me and him…Bella and Edward, the way it was supposed to be…not the hell I had been through for the last week. But then it ended…and he did the worse possible thing he could have done in that moment. He looked away from me. It was like I was slowly losing him and I could do nothing to stop it.

"I was hoping that I could drive you to work today," he said, trying to smile again. I fought the urge to sigh. He didn't need to act like nothing was wrong; I just wished he would _tell _me. I asked if he would come over tonight, to which he agreed, but it still didn't make me happy. His expression took on what I was starting to call the Edward-is-thinking-really-hard face. He stared at the road, not moving except for his hands on the wheel and not saying anything.

And so we were back to that. Well, that was it; I had enough.

"Edward, what's wrong?" I asked, exasperated. He still didn't look at me.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong," he said too quickly. Well, he had another thing coming if he though I was going to give up that easily.

"Edward Cullen, I know you better than you know yourself. Do not lie to me and tell me there is nothing wrong because clearly there is. You've been like this since the party," I paused because his façade momentarily disappeared at the mention of the word _party,_ "What happened there? Was it James? Did he do something to you?" He gritted his teeth and his face became the usual mask of indifference again.

"No, Bella. Nothing is wrong. Please just drop it, okay? Please?" he begged, finally glancing at me. I could feel the burn in my eyes, my tears trying to escape. I tried to hold them back. Edward _never _spoke to me like that.

"Fine," I said. The rest of the ride to the hospital was silent. I had won the fight with my tears, knowing that Carlisle would grow concerned if he saw me crying. I looked at Edward before I got out, grabbing my change of clothes. He was staring at me intently, looking ashamed. He shut the car off and got out, too.

"I'll go in with you. I need to speak with my father anyway," he said. He followed me inside and took my hand. We got on the elevator together and when we got to my floor he followed me out. Being here with him made me a little giddy; we met here on this very floor. Were his thoughts on the same line as mine? Or was he regretting that we ever met at all? After all, I was nothing special. Edward could have any girl he wanted and maybe that was why he was acting so strange. Maybe he realized that he could do so much better than me.

_No, Bella, don't think that way. Don't let your insecurities get you now, _I thought. The girls that I worked with stared at me as Edward and I walked hand in hand. The girl named Jessica and her snobby friend, Lauren, sneered at me in jealousy. They were part of the group that had stared through his hospital door window after his surgery over a month ago. Normally I would have gloated and thought _he's mine bitches _but with the way he was treating me I just worried more that he would end up with someone like them instead of me. His attitude really was starting to tear me, and I didn't know what I would do if we were to break up. _Don't think about that._

He dropped me off at the nearest bathroom so that I could change before he headed to his father's office. I turned around at the door and faced him, silently praying that he wouldn't run off while I was at work. He was looking at me, his face unreadable. I hated this stupid expression. I couldn't read one emotion on his face though I was sure his brain was in a tarry just like mine.

_What is wrong? Just talk to me! _I wanted to scream. I felt the tears start to come up again and I didn't want him to see me like this. I didn't want him to see me lose control. If he was going to act like nothing was wrong, then so would I. No matter how much I wanted to act like the desperate girlfriend and beg for him not to leave me, I would not do it. We stared at one another, waiting for the other to talk. Getting sick of him looking at me this way, I finally broke the silence.

"Will you really be there tonight?" I whispered. His jaw clenched and unclenched while he decided his words.

"Yes, I'll be there, Bella," he said. When he saw that I didn't believe him, he said, "I promise." I nodded and leaned in for a goodbye kiss. At first I figured he would just pull away but instead his lips met mine quickly and roughly. One hand found the back of my neck and the other gripped the small of my back. It was a kiss full of need, something we were not used to, and I didn't know where this urgency came from. It felt like one of those kisses on a movie when the world is about to end and two people in love have to say goodbye. _I don't want to say goodbye. Ever._

He pulled away, his lips swollen and beautiful and his face hardened again. I closed my eyes and hoped it would be gone by the time I opened them. It wasn't.

My hands fell from his chest and gripped his shirt tightly, making fists. I looked into his emotionless eyes, scared of what he would say next.

"I love you, Edward." I said it like a question, daring him to say it back. If he didn't, I didn't know what I would do. I would probably break down here. Screw being tough. He tilted his head, hesitating.

_Please say it back, please say it back. I love you so much but you need to love me, too._ _Please love me back._

He took my chin into his hands and put his forehead to mine so that we were looking directly at each other, nose to nose. His eyes were searching mine for something, for what I didn't know. He sighed, his cool breath hit my face like a fan and despite all my sadness, it still made my head spin and my heart quicken.

"As I love you, Bella," he whispered. If I hadn't been listening so intently, I would not have heard him. And I believed him. "I'll see you later," he said, letting go of me and turning toward the hall that led to the elevator.

"Bye," I said sadly.

****

My truck was in the employees' parking lot when I left work at eight. I drove home in silence, not wanting to hear any sad songs that would remind me of my dilemma. Once home, I showered and brushed my teeth, wished Charlie good night, and laid in my lonely little bed, waiting for Edward to come at eleven.

_Did he really mean it every time he told me 'I love you?' What if he never wanted me? How could he? He was a Greek god and I was just plain old simple Bella._ I drove my own mind crazy with these thoughts. I hadn't noticed how long I had been laying down until I heard a little tap on my window. I jumped like a shock went through my body and grinned ear to ear in relief when I opened the window for a rain-soaked Edward. He seemed to be slightly better, but I could still tell when he kissed me that he was tense. We lay down in my bed, the silence returning as it had been since the party.

Now I was really getting aggravated. If he wanted to break up with me, why didn't he just do it already instead of torturing me like this? I sighed frustratingly, hoping he would get the hint that I was peeved. He blinked and looked down at our intertwined hands. His mouth opened as if he were about to say something but closed it when he looked back up at me. I shot him a look and let go of his hand, turning over in bed away from him and attempted to fall asleep.

Five minutes passed before he gave in. "Bella," he whispered. It startled me when his breath tickled my ear; I hadn't expected him to be so close. I turned slightly to face him. His expression broke my heart, the sadness in his eyes was so evident, and the set of his lips made him look like he was about to actually cry. Had I hurt his feelings by pulling away from him?

"Edward, I'm sorry," I said immediately, cupping his jaw.

"Bella, can I ask you something?" I nodded and started to hope that I was _finally_ going to get some answers. He swallowed loudly before speaking again.

"Bella, what would you do if I died?"

**A/N: This was definitely not where I planned on ending this chapter. But it is my longest chapter so far, so that has to count for something, right? I REALLY hate this chapter. It was so hard to right and I did completely mediocre on it, but like I said way up there, ^ I've been having trouble. Anybody want to share how to get through a parents' divorce? It is a freaking sad, devastating hell hole here. I feel so bad for my boyfriend…he feels like he has to be extra nice to me b/c of my dad, so he brought me a load of roses and balloons (no, they're not white, they're pink lol) and he washed our dishes and cut our grass. He even attempted cooking, which was a horrible idea, but I enjoyed watching him in his apron-clad glory anyway.**

******Anyway, enough of my personal problems--I think you should know this. I am entirely unoriginal and this whole 'sending Edward back to war' idea was actually inspired by **_**The Man in the Iron Mask.**_** It's a movie about King Louis of France who met a girl named Christine and wanted to make her his mistress. Well, Christine had a boyfriend named Raoul who had already served the army and they were planning on getting married, so King Louis sent Raoul back to war and when Raoul was killed in combat, Louis got the girl. When Christine realized what had happened, she was disgusted with herself for sleeping with the king and hung herself. It's *supposedly* a true story. Idk, I didn't live back then. You should watch it. Louis is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Wooh, hot. This twist was NOT what I planned for this story. When I started writing it, I planned on Jacob kissing Bella without her permission and Edward catching them and then thinking Bella's cheating on him then he runs away. But that seemed lame, so…I don't know how long Edward will be gone. He has to go back to boot camp and all that crap. Once again, this could NEVER happen but all's fair in fan fiction, so don't tell me that it's not possible, please. Let's just *pretend* that James forged Edward's re-enlistment thingy or something.******

**I'm REALLY sorry about the long A/N but there was some important stuff I needed to say. Most of my chapters are like 7 pages long but this one was 12. Most people on here get like 14 pages per chapter. I admire them because damn I bet that's hard. So, again, I am very disappointed with this chapter. I wrote it five times in three weeks and I still hate it. So if you have any idea how I could have made it better, PLEASE tell me. Or tell me if I'm being insecure and paranoid. Just tell me. I lurve comments…my iPhone makes a cute little noise when I get one. It makes me happy.**

**;)**


	13. Chapter 13: Trust Me

*Climbs out of hole and smiles nervously, hoping no one is too mad at me*

Anyway…

A/N: I'm writing a new story on ff called 'Stranded' but my penname is 'dangerousandbeautiful' because I'm sharing it with someone.

Disclaimer: Everything Twilight is owned by Stephenie Meyer, not me…

I also don't own Graham Greene's _A Shocking Accident._

Here's Chapter Thirteen! Talk about the hardest chapter yet! It starts off in the hospital in EPOV when they part for Bella to work and Edward to speak to Carlisle. It might be a little confusing but you can always go back to chapter 12 to refresh!

**Chapter Thirteen: **

**EPOV**

"**I love you, Edward," her sweet voice begged me after our kiss. I felt the dread return to me full force at the thought of leaving her again, even if only for a few hours. The look in her eyes was questioning me, daring me to say it back. I tilted my head, thinking about how absurd my Bella was. As if I could **_**not **_**love her. It was unthinkable and as much as I hated it, her insecurities would become my ally for when we would have to part for the last time.**

**But that time was not now. And I would love her to the extent until I was forced away. I wanted to erase the hurt on her face that **_**I **_**put there.**

**Caring not that people all around us were watching, I took her face into my hands gently and put my forehead to hers, willing her to believe me. "As I love you, Bella," I whispered. She must have believed me because her face softened, and she seemed relieved. I wanted to spend more time with her but the conversation with my father could not wait another minute.**

"**I'll see you later," I said quickly before I changed my mind, letting go of the reason for my existence and walking to the elevator. I heard Bella sadly utter a 'bye' before I was out of her sight. I could feel the eyes of the other girls on me as I passed the desks. I vaguely remembered the blond girl; she had stared at me through the window of my door when I was here. I remembered being extremely grateful that Carlisle had chosen Bella to be his assistant instead of her. That girl was creepy.**

**Carlisle's office was just a floor above and I grew nervous of what to tell him. I had not told a single soul of my dilemma and I was still debating on telling my father. I could not trust that he would not tell Esme, and I knew that it would hurt my mother if she knew what was going on. They had noticed something was wrong with my behavior lately but they never said anything about it. It was better if this was kept from the family, but I hoped that Carlisle could find a loophole so that I could stay here. So I would tell him. Everything. Well, maybe not everything.**

**The great thing about being a Cullen is that I never have to wait for an appointment with my father. I seriously hoped he was in his office. I didn't call ahead of time because the thought of him helping me just occurred to me when I arrived at the hospital and I would be royally screwed if he was in surgery today. Thankfully, he was there when I knocked on his door, surprised to see me.**

"**Edward! Not that I'm not glad to see you, but what brings you to the hospital today? I left the house right after you did…you seemed a little…distraught?" he said, inviting me in. **

**I ignored this completely and skipped to the important stuff. "You don't have any urgent appointments soon, do you?" I asked. He shook his head, his face growing worried at the chaotic look on mine. I sat in the chair across the desk from him.**

"**No, nothing important until later, I'm afraid. Edward, what's this about? Is something wrong?" he said. I sighed. Finally, I can answer that question truthfully. I thought through my words carefully.**

"**Yes, actually, Carlisle, something is wrong. But I can't tell you unless you promise not to tell anyone." I looked up, silently begging him to agree. He looked surprised at my confession, but hesitantly nodded his head in agreement.**

"**Including Mom." He sighed and nodded again, motioning for me to continue. I let out the breath I hadn't realized I had been holding in and started.**

"**I'm being sent back to war," I whispered, my voice breaking. I heard Carlisle gasp and looked into his wide eyes, searching for any sign of hope. After a few seconds of silence, Carlisle spoke.**

"**I figured this was coming," he said quietly, looking at his hands. My jaw dropped in shock. Of all the things to say, I **_**surely **_**wasn't expecting **_**that.**_

"**What do you mean you 'figured this was coming?'" I said loudly. He sighed again, still not meeting my eyes.**

"**You weren't medically discharged from the military, Edward. I knew they would eventually come asking for you once you were better, but I hoped this wouldn't happen. Why so soon? You were marked as healed not five days ago…" he said, now talking more to himself. This was confusing me.**

"**You're confusing me."**

"**Well…how to explain…" he ran his fingers through his hair, deep in thought. "Okay, remember when your arm got infected and you were sent here?" I nodded. "Well, you weren't in bad enough shape for me to mark you as medically retired. The only way I would have been able to do that was if you lost your arm or something as drastic as that, but since you would be healed in about a month, I couldn't. But then you broke it and complicated the healing process. Jasper, on the other hand, had injuries much worse than yours. He's lucky he still has his leg; he was discharged because he'll never be fit enough to go back."**

"**So you're saying that James can get away with this?" I said in disbelief, throwing my hands in the air dramatically. Carlisle's brows furrowed.**

"**James?" It was my turn to sigh. I didn't want to tell him about everything, especially James. But maybe if I told him the whole truth, he could help me. He could help Bella.**

"**Yes, James…the man who threw the party that Jasper and I went to with Alice and Bella." I didn't mean to be rude but I was getting more frustrated every minute.**

"**What did he tell you?" I looked down from his penetrating gaze and thought over the conversation with James for the millionth time.**

**I didn't want to tell Carlisle about James wanting Bella. Admitting it made it feel more real; like if I told a single soul it would be as if I'd given up. So I strayed a little bit, leaving out that part. "He…pulled me aside at the gathering and said that I needed to go back."**

"**And?"**

"**And that's it, really. He didn't say much else," I continued.**

"**But he doesn't have the authority to do that!" he said. This surprised me; my father rarely lost his patience. I simply shot him a look that said 'as if I don't know that already'. No, James did not have that right. But that didn't mean that he couldn't make it happen. I brought my hand up to pinch the bridge of my nose in irritation at the same time that he did. The moment would have been funny if we wouldn't have been in this situation.**

**With a slight grimace, he said, "The only thing I can think of is that he would notify your old recruiter in Seattle, and tell him that you are not unable. But still, even if you would be asked to return, there's not much chance that you would actually fight again. You would have to go through training again. Most soldiers that have been injured before usually get easier stations. You could even switch to National Guard…that way you could stay here and finish the years you signed up for with us…" My heart grew sad at the look on his face. I knew that he was thinking of Esme and how she had begged me not to go to war the first time around. He and I both knew it would break her to see me go again. Carlisle's words made sense. I could switch, I could stay here, and, best of all, I could be with my Bella and my family. James couldn't stop me from doing that, could he? A plan started to form in my head, but first I needed to talk to Jazz.**

"**Yeah, Dad. Thanks for that. I think I'm going to go talk to Jazz about everything, see what he thinks," I said, standing up. Dad stood up, too.**

**He looked at me worriedly and as I departed, he said, "Son, please don't ever think that you can't come to me for something." I nodded, suspecting that he saw right through me, as always. He knew that I was hiding something from him. He gave me that look that said 'I know you're not telling the whole truth, but I'm not going to harp on you for it.' I walked out of his office feeling slightly better, headed to Jasper's.**

*******

**My happiness did not last long, however, for when I returned to the Volvo, there was a manila folder on the seat of my desk that had not been there when I got out. Had I not locked my car? At least I had brought my keys inside. My mind was in such chaos that I had even left my precious vehicle unprotected! But who would want to write to me anyway and leave it in my car, no less?**

_**What if it was a bomb?**_** Pfft, now I was just being silly. **_**Get a grip, Edward.**_** I slowly reached out and grabbed it, being extra careful while I looked around for a name or something. There was nothing written on it and it was incredibly light, definitely too light to contain a bomb. I debated on whether I should open it here or wait until I got home after I went to Jasper's. The fact that someone walked up to my car, opened it, and put something in it bothered me. It was obvious that it was too important to just send to me via mail, like the sender would have wanted me to open it in secret. Curiosity got the best of me, and I opened the damn envelope.**

**My jaw dropped as the contents spilled out. It was Bella…pictures of my Bella. But they were not pictures like a friend would take. It was obvious that she was unaware of having her picture taken in all of them. The photographer must have been at least ten feet away from her when each one was taken, like some sort of spy following her and capturing images. She was far away in every picture; I couldn't see her face in most of them but I could still tell it was her from her unmistakable long brown hair. The first three I looked at was of her at the grocery store. She was in the checkout line, then walking out the doors, then getting into her truck.**

**I started freaking out, scared of what I would see next. Flipping through the photos, the next were of Bella at the hospital in her scrubs at the front desk, messing with papers. Whoever was taking the photos didn't appear to be causing Bella any harm, but he or she was definitely close enough to do so. My heart beat frantically in my chest when I got to pictures of Bella walking into her house. This maniac knew where she lived? There were more pictures of her, the camera being used must have been really high tech because the pictures were being taken of her through her bedroom window. I wanted to vomit and I started shaking. The next to last picture made me punch my steering wheel in anger--it was of Bella changing in her room; I could see her through the second story window, wearing nothing but a red underwear and bra. The last picture must have been taken not even an hour ago; it was of Bella and I getting out of my car at the hospital in the very spot I sat in now. It meant that I was being followed, too. My forehead fell to the steering wheel with a dull **_**thump.**_** I could feel angry tears in the corner of my eyes and I groaned desperately.**

**The loud tap on my window made me jump nearly a foot in the air. I looked up, expecting to see a guy holding a gun to my head, but it was only a little elderly lady who looked concerned when she saw my face. I rolled down my window.**

"**I'm sorry if I disturbed you, young man. I thought I heard someone punching something. Is everything alright?" she said softly.**

"**Yeah, that was me. I'm not having a very good day, and I'm sorry if I scared you. Other than that, though, I am…fine" I lied. It's not like I could have told her my life story, you know, the one where I finally get happiness and it's stolen away from me in less than two months…**

"**Are you sure you're okay, dear? You look rather pale, and you are at a hospital, after all," she said. I nodded reluctantly. She could tell I was lying because she continued, "Well, I hope you feel better, son. Why, a boy as handsome as you shouldn't ever be depressed. I'm sure this isn't over a girl, is it?"**

_**Oh, if only you knew.**_

**I shook my head sadly, wishing that my problems were more like petty little drama instead of the monstrosity that they were. We said our goodbyes, and I turned back to the folder, looking around for anything that would give me a clue. Sure enough, there was a paper stuck inside the folder, addressed to me.**

_**Edward,**_

_**I've sent this little packet to you to serve as a reminder. It is also a warning. Should you pull another stunt like you did today with your father, I will see to it myself that the thing you hold most precious is dead within twenty-four hours. Meet me at the Center at midnight tomorrow night. Again, if you do not follow my orders, there will be severe consequences. You will tell no one of our meeting, nor will you remove Isabella from her home. You will not show this letter to anyone, you will not go to the authorities, and you will certainly not speak of this to Isabella's father. As you can see, I have a man ready at all times just a shooting distance away from your beloved.**_

_**Heed my warnings, Edward, and be there at midnight…alone.**_

**There was no ending signature, probably to protect his identity in case I did go to the police. I felt extremely stupid and angry at myself, especially for not even thinking about Bella's father. I probably could have told him right after I saw James and he could have possibly helped me. My head fell back against my chair.**_** Why? Why did I have to sign up for the stupid army? Why didn't I just listen to Esme and become a doctor like Carlisle? **_**This wasn't fair. I really had no way out of this. If I chose to tattle, Bella would die. If I didn't tattle, who knew what would happen? I tried to push this out of my head, knowing that dwelling on the bad things would get me no where. I had to come up with a plan, and I had to do it before midnight tomorrow. No, I would not take any chances with Bella's life on the line. If going back to war guaranteed that Bella would be safe, even if I would die, then I would do it. But I didn't even have that option. I would be leaving her unprotected. I needed to talk to Jasper. I knew I was probably being followed right this very minute, so I would have to be careful of what to say to him so that Bella wouldn't be murdered because of me.**

**I picked up my phone out of the cup holder and dialed Jazz's number quickly. A dial tone came on and a recording said, "I'm sorry, but your call cannot be completed at this time. Please try again later." What the hell? Why wasn't it working? I shook my head in frustration and dialed my mom's cell phone number. It didn't work, either. Were all the cell phones down? I dialed my house number, knowing that it had to work, but I was met with the same problem.**

**So it was **_**my **_**phone then. James or whoever came into my car must have called and had it disconnected. I started my car and headed home, extremely pissed off.**

*******

"**Mom, is your cell phone working?" I asked Esme when I walked in and put my keys on the kitchen counter.**

"**Yes, dear, I think so. Is something wrong with yours?" she said, ironing clothes. I huffed, not knowing how to explain that some psycho had it disconnected.**

"**I don't know."**

**Emmett chuckled from the living room. "Did you pay the bill?" I rolled my eyes at him and went to my room.**

**Were they spying on me now? I looked out my window but it faced the woods, and unless someone was stupid enough to climb a tree just to get glimpses of me, no one was there. I sighed again, something I had been doing a lot lately. I looked around the house more, seeing no immediate danger. I wasn't sure if anyone was following my family or if it was just Bella and me. They had to be keeping tabs somehow, though, to make sure I didn't tell anyone. James could always be lying, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Plus, he obviously heard the conversation with my father. The silly image of microphones in the walls filled my brain and I shuddered, wondering how far this man would go to get my girlfriend and why he wanted her in the first place.**

**I got in my car, desperate to see Jasper. My plan hadn't fully formulated yet, but I knew that he would certainly agree with everything I said. I couldn't tell him everything, but I knew he wouldn't deny my request of him. I would tell him as much as I could, and hope that would be enough.**

**Finally pulling down his street and into his driveway, I reflected how little my own life meant to me anymore. It was the things in my life that mattered most, the people who made it special. I didn't fear death; I never had.**

**Alice was there, sitting all comfy like she owned the place. Seeing Alice and Jasper together made me hurt even more because I knew they would be married someday and there was a possibility that I wouldn't even be alive for my sister and best friend's wedding. I shook away the thought and replaced my grimace with a fake smile, asking Alice to do me a favor by bringing Bella's truck to the hospital for her to get home later. Alice left looking suspicious, probably knowing I was just sending her out to do something so I could talk to Jasper in private. She didn't acknowledge it, though, and left gracefully after giving Jazz a kiss goodbye. I sighed, knowing that this conversation would be awkward and certainly confusing. Jasper looked at me compassionately, knowing that something was wrong.**

"**We need to talk," I whispered. **

**No, my own death didn't matter to me, but I would be damned if Bella met the same fate.**

*******

**By the time I left Jasper's, it was almost ten-thirty, so I decided to just head over to Bella's. Our conversation went well, but it was hard because I tried talking in code half the time just in case someone really had me bugged. Jasper finally understood what I was trying to tell him, but I couldn't tell him everything. Even saying James' name was out of the question. It felt like taboo even thinking the demon's name in my head.**

_**Why does he want her anyway?**_** The question wouldn't stop nagging at my brain. And the answer just wouldn't come. James was an evil son of a witch, but I couldn't see him going after an innocent girl. Bella was beautiful, of course, but no sadistic person ever goes after a pretty face just because he wants to. And she was highly protected! She had me and her father. Wouldn't a monster want to go after someone easier to get. Was it just the thrill of finally getting something he couldn't have? I doubted it.**

**So what made him want Bella? Was there a history behind his want for her? I couldn't see that possible, either. Bella was like an angel; she wouldn't have given him any reason to track her. It had to be something else. Hopefully I would find out when I met up with James.**

**His request to meet with me didn't really scare me. He wouldn't kill me, especially not here after I'd told my dad about him. I knew he had connections, but he wasn't sneaky enough to get away with my murder. Sending me away was the perfect plan. But I couldn't focus on that now. Pulling down Bella's street, I tried to push the thoughts away from my mind.**

**I parked in an empty spot next to the forest near Bella's house. It was pouring, and I knew neither she nor her father would see my car or hear me drive up. I climbed the tree and tapped on her window lightly. Her beautiful face appeared, her smile wide. It felt as if my heart cracked a little. She helped me climb in, and I kissed her chastely.**

**Neither of us spoke. I was sure she was full of questions, but she voiced nothing, and I was afraid that if I started, I wouldn't stop, and I didn't want to freak her out with the truth. We lay down in her twin bed, and I could see the aggravation forming in her eyes. She sighed, and I looked down at our hands, seeing the rough exterior of my palms and the soft cotton that were hers. I thought about telling her what was going on, wanting to tell her the truth, but the words just wouldn't come. I couldn't do that to her. The secret was driving me crazy.**

**She turned away from me, peeved. I didn't blame her, but I also didn't want to have to leave like this. Contemplating what to say without telling her everything, I leaned in to her ear.**

"**Bella," I whispered, startling her. Her face immediately turned to regret.**

"**Edward, I'm sorry," she said, cupping my jaw. **_**I can't tell her. I can't tell her.**_

**But I did want to know one thing.**

"**Bella, can I ask you something?" She nodded. I swallowed hard and went for it.**

"**Bella, what would you do if I died?" I asked her quietly, meeting her eyes. I watched her expression go from hopeful to confused, and then she turned red with anger.**

"**What do you mean, what would I do if you died?" she asked through gritted teeth. "What the hell is going on, Edward? Why in the world would you think that? You haven't spoken to me, haven't looked at me…Edward, you haven't even kissed me right in the last-since-since the party!" she whisper-yelled. My eyes widened at my furious kitten. She jabbed me with her finger.**

"**You tell me what is going on, Edward Cullen, or so help me God, I will--well, I don't know what I'll do, but I'll do something. And it won't be pretty!" I frowned. Maybe that question was a little too drastic to start with. I tried to calm her down.**

"**Bella, I just need to know. If I ever…moved on…or say I went away for a while--a long time--what would you do? Where would you go?" I asked. I tried to get my own emotions under control. It was as if her stress was my stress.**

"**I would follow you," she said quickly, without even thinking about the answer. I sighed.**

"**And what if you couldn't come, Bella? What would you do then?" I pressed. She looked long and hard at me, considering it.**

"**I would wait for you, of course. Edward, I would wait forever for you."**

**I shook my head. "Bella, you need to promise me that if something would ever happen to me, you would go back with your mom. Get away from here. Go back with your mother," I said, not daring to say **_**Florida, **_**in case we were being watched this very second. She shook her head fiercely.**

"**No," she scoffed, "**_**No. **_**As if, Edward. And what about you?"**

"**I would do whatever it takes to find you again," I answered truthfully. If I would go away, I needed for her to go to Florida, that way James wouldn't go after her. I highly doubted he would go across the country, if he even figured out where she was.**

"**Bella, you need to promise me, please. Promise that you'll go. For me," I pleaded. It was the best that I could think of until I figured out this terrible mess. She glared at me defiantly, and I put on my best convincing face, the one I knew she always gave in to. It worked.**

"**Okay," he voice shook, "If anything were to happen to you…I would go to--" I cut her off by covering her mouth with my hand, so that she wouldn't say "Jacksonville." Her face crunched in confusion, but softened as I removed my hand. She looked incredibly sad, and I hated that I had to do this to her. Now she would definitely worry, but I would rather have her think there was something wrong with me instead of herself, that way she wouldn't live in fear if I had to go away. I sighed and pulled her close to me.**

"**Thank you," I said, kissing her softly. She responded quickly, tangling her fingers in my hair. She opened her mouth to me, tracing my lips with her tongue. Her sweet breath seemed to invade my mind. I gripped around her waist, squeezing her. One of her hands left my hair and traveled to my chest, pulling on my shirt. She bit my lip slightly as she pulled away. She was trying to distract me.**

"**Please tell me what's going on, Edward," she whispered. She wasn't angry with me anymore. If she was, she hid it well. I sighed and looked into her big brown orbs.**

"**Bella, please don't worry about it." She groaned and looked down at her blankets.**

"**Will you tell me soon?" she asked. She looked worried, which was what I had been afraid of. Her insecurities were written all over her face, and I touched my fingers to her chin, tilting her face until her eyes met mine again.**

"**Maybe. You'll know eventually. I just don't know if I'll be the one to tell you," I said sadly. The look on her face made my heart drop into my stomach. I never wanted to see her look that way again.**

"**I hate this. I hate that you are keeping things from me! I thought we were at the part in our relationship where we could trust each other!" With that, she burst into tears, and I felt a million times more horrible. I pulled her closer, kissing the crown of her head and apologizing over and over again. She calmed down after a few minutes, and I checked her face to make sure she was okay. Her eyes were drooping, and I realized she had literally cried herself to sleep. I laid her back down on her pillow, and traced her face gently with my fingers.**

"**I love you, Bella," I said, hoping that she at least trusted me when I said that.**

"**I love you, too," she mumbled sleepily. Five minutes later, she was out.**

**I stared at her furrowed brow and frown as they slowly morphed back to a peaceful state.**

**She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve everything I had put her through since the party. I felt smaller than an ant with all that had happened.**

**There had to be some way to get out of this--some way in which no one got hurt and Bella and I got our happy ending. Admiring her beautiful face, a strange memory appeared in my mind. It was my mother, my biological mother, Elizabeth. Bella's eyelashes were so long that they created shadows against her pale cheeks. I remembered how my mother's eyelashes did the same thing.**

**Suddenly, a thought hit me like the falling pig in **_**A Shocking Accident. **_**I jumped up with surprise at the plan that was forming in my head.**

**It was unlikely to work, and I knew it would take me a while to find what I needed. But if I could do this…if I could just carry out this plan, Bella and I wouldn't have to worry about James or any of his threats.**

**James had help, he had every military man I had ever met on his side. He had connections from everywhere in America.**

**But I had one person with all of that and more.**

**I just had to find him first…**

**A/N: I am really sorry about the wait. I changed so much in this story. I changed half the plot, I changed almost everything to make it more believable. I did a bit of research and found out lots of men have been sent back to war after injuries, so this isn't really out of the norm. I hope you're not too mad at me! I didn't give up, right? But anyway, can you guess the reason why James is really after Bella? I bet you don't. I don't have enough clues yet for anyone to know. And what do you think Edward said to Jasper? And who is Edward going to look for? That's a surprise, and I probably won't be writing from Edward's POV for a while. I think readers should find out when Bella finds out…**

**I think an adult Renesmee would resemble Keira Knightly. What do you think? None of my friends want to talk to me about Twilight anymore.**


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